‘Farmageddon’ days away as even pizzas face the chop

SHOPPERS are facing a shortage of meat and even ready-made pizzas long before Christmas – if the carbon dioxide crisis continues, supermarket bosses and producers warned.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents the major chains, said it expected to see food shortages by the end of the week while pork suppliers warned of an impending “farmageddon” within 10 days.

Pig farmers have threatened to slaughter animals on their land for render because of a growing backlog at abattoirs and processing plants.

The boss of Iceland said he expected supermarket shelves to begin to empty in the “coming days” as shortages of carbon dioxide compounded by a lack of haulage drivers hit the high street.

Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, said yesterday: “This is no longer about whether or not Christmas will be OK, it’s about keeping the wheels turning and the lights on so we can actually get to Christmas.”

“This could become a problem over the coming days and weeks, so this is not an issue that’s months away.”

Carbon dioxide has a variety of critical uses in the food and drinks industry that includes putting fizz into beer; stunning and killing animals for meat; and in packaging to lengthen the shelf life of fresh foods.

The UK has been hit by a shortage of carbon dioxide as a consequence of the closure of two fertiliser plants, which manufactured the gas in vast quantities as a by-product. The plants ceased production after the spike in gas prices made them uneconomical to run.

The National Pig Association said there were already 100,000 pigs awaiting slaughter at abattoirs due to a shortage of labour – and now carbon dioxide. If the backlog gets any bigger, pigs will have to be slaughtered on the farm and cannot then be put into the food chain.

Rob Mutimer, its chairman, said: “If the situation doesn’t change, it’s going to spiral completely out of control. And the only endgame is we as farmers are going to end up slaughtering our livestock – not for the food chain but to put them into rendering, to dispose of carcasses like what happened in foot and mouth.”