Beer drinkers cry foul

A potential calamity of national proportion is brewing in the UK as a result of a dire shortage of carbon dioxide.

This low-profile commodity is far from a headline grabber under normal conditions. However, when supplies dwindle to a trickle just as the soccer World Cup draw opens up to offer England one of the softest routes to the business end of the competition in the modern era, the likelihood of civil disturbance if beer runs out rises ever higher.

The timing could not be worse, given the combination of a heat wave and the propensity of the average fan to get outside of at least a gallon of lager in the normal 90 minutes of play — and two if it goes to penalties.

Carbon dioxide has a number of other applications, such as being used in modified atmosphere packaging to extend the shelf life of fresh meat and salads.

But this has not captured the public imagination to any degree compared with the horror of running out of beer as the Fifa spectacular enters the knockout phase.

The problem is that food-grade CO² is produced in ammonia plants, which tend to close for maintenance in the summer as it is outside the peak production time for fertiliser.

There is currently only one purifying plant operating in all of the UK, causing a mad scramble for supply, as well as suggestions that what supply there is should be diverted away from fripperies such as salad bags and into the strategically essential beverages. Without these, there could be rioting in the pubs and blood running in the streets.