How food manufacturers lost their fizz

MOST food grade CO2 is made as a by-product of the manufacture of ammonia, which is used in farm fertiliser.

Manufacturing normally takes place over the autumn and winter months in Europe ahead of the spring growing season and the factories close during the summer for maintenance.

Britain has five plants producing the gas, which is vital to large factories of the food and drink industry. However, three have been shut in recent weeks, leaving the country reliant on imports.

Adding to the problem, ammonia and CO2 plants abroad have also shut just as businesses across Europe have seen a spike in demand for food and drink products driven by the heatwave and the World Cup.

The British and European ammonia plants have also been shut down for slightly longer than normal this year.

This is partly because the cost of the raw materials needed to make the fertiliser have risen sharply while the price paid for the end product has fallen.

As a result, fertiliser manufacturers have been importing ammonia from outside the EU rather than relying on stocks made in Europe, which means less CO2 is being made close to home.