CO2 crisis disrupts UK meat industry and retail
CO2 crisis caused by the closing of some gas factories in UK and EU has put its mark on the British meat industry and retail. Cardon dioxide is used to stun farm animals and in packaging and in the absence of the gas, production has slow down.
"We will see fewer chicken dishes, fewer pork and bacon dishes", commented Ian Wright, president of Food and Drink Federation, in an intervention at BBC Radio.
A number of companies have reported disruption to production because of the shortage. "We are aware of specific pressures in some areas such as carbonated soft drinks, beer, British chicken and British pork but the majority of food products are unaffected and retailers do not anticipate food shortages. However, it is likely that the mix of products available may be affected", British Retail Consortium said, in a press release.
There are hopes that new CO2 supplies will be available next week, but that doesn't mean that the problem will be solved on the spot. "Inventories of products have been eroded quite a lot over the last week and not many people keep very large stocks of products because it is not cost-efficient", added Ian Wright.
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