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Sainsbury's Warns Of Some UK Food Shortages After European Travel Bans

Sainsbury's Warns Of Some UK Food Shortages After European Travel Bans

Christmas dinner won't be affected, but we could see some gaps on shelves if this continues

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Sainsbury's has warned that the ban on travel between the UK and a growing number of European countries - as well as some outside Europe - could mean a shortage in some foods.

Luckily, they've confirmed that the things that people will be looking for over Christmas is already in the country, but there may be 'gaps' on some fruit and veg such as lettuce, certain types of salad leaves, cauliflower, broccoli, and citrus fruit.

A spokesperson said: "All products for the Great British Christmas lunch are already in the country and we have plenty of these.

"We are also sourcing everything we can from the UK and looking into alternative transport for product sourced from Europe.

"If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit - all of which are imported from the Continent at this time of year.

"We hope the UK and French governments can come to a mutually agreeable solution that prioritises the immediate passage of produce and any other food at the ports."

PA

So, as long as we can stave off scurvy until this is all over, we'll be totally fine.

The key to this issue is that France has issued a travel ban on the UK because of the new variant of coronavirus that is thought to be as much as 70 percent more infectious.

That means that the Channel Tunnel is closed to hauliers, and therefore food supplies can't get into the country.

The Netherlands, which also usually provides a useful transport link to the UK via ferry, has also closed doors to Britain because of the rise in cases.

The bans are only temporary at the minute, but there are fears that a lengthier ban could lead to more shortages on the supermarket shelves.

Sainsbury's said that they're working hard to sources as much as possible from inside the UK, and looking into alternative ways to get produce into the UK from Europe.

Germany, Belgium, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Italy are amongst the other European countries that have temporarily suspended all travel from the UK.

PA

Scientists are very worried about the new strain of the virus and have said that the British public should minimise contact with others even further to prevent the rapid spread of the new variant.

Professor Andrew Hayward, from the group Nervtag which provided evidence of the new mutation, told Sky News: "I'm sorry to say we should all be very concerned,

"This is really terrible news in terms of the pandemic... If the vaccine is the best news, this is the worst news and we really, really need to tighten down the hatches to stop the spread of this strain while we are vaccinating as many people as possible."

He added that it is 'hard to overestimate' the impact of a potentially much more easily transmissible strain.

Hayward added: "If we're going to prevent very many deaths, we're going to need to reduce contact further,

"What this shows is even though we were having relatively strong measures that were enough to suppress the previous virus, they weren't enough to suppress this."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Food, UK News, Europe, Coronavirus, travel