Why is there a mad scramble to find eggs?
With empty shelves in the egg section of some supermarkets and farmers warning the UK could run out by Christmas due to avian flu and production costs, Rachel Alexander went out to assess the situation in Stoke-on-trent...
WHILE I enjoy a chocolate egg hunt, the added stress of looking for half a dozen as Christmas approaches was not what I needed.
It’s been nearly 70 years since eggs were last rationed in the UK, so it was with some trepidation that I set off on my mission.
I didn’t get off to the best of starts as Lidl Longton’s shelves were almost completely barren.
Despite rationing their customers to three units each, there were barely any cartons left.
My egg hunt continued to Aldi in Fenton where the situation wasn’t much better.
Bare shelves again indicated something was not quite right – but here no rations were in place.
Continuing on my way to Asda in Fenton, shoppers were limited to a maximum of two units of eggs.
However, I struck gold at Tesco in Longton where there appeared to be a plentiful supply. It did have a sign to say the free range eggs were currently barn eggs after a housing order was introduced earlier this month.
Like Tesco, Morrisons had plenty of eggs available and no rationing was in place.
I wouldn’t have noticed there was a supply problem if I wasn’t already in the know.
For now at least, eggs are available but give it a few weeks it might be easier to get an Easter egg than one from a hen.
Addressing the egg shortage, the British Free Range Egg Producers Association said: “Feeding hens is now at least 50 per cent more expensive than it was, and energy prices have soared in the same way that consumers have seen their domestic bills rise.
“Spending on fuel has grown by 30%, while labour and packaging also costs more.”
Not only are farmers battling the rising costs in production, they are also faced with the largest outbreak of avian influenza in the UK. A national housing order was introduced across England on November 7 to protect poultry from the disease.
Christine Middlemiss, the UK’S Chief Veterinary Officer, said: “We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England.
“The risk of kept birds being exposed to disease has reached a point where it is now necessary for all birds to be housed until further notice.”