Salad items rationed as shortages hit stores

Supermarkets are starting to ration fresh produce including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers amid shortages caused by poor weather in Europe and north Africa, as experts warned yesterday that supply problems could last for weeks.

- Sarah Butler, Joanna Partridge

UK producers said supplies from British farms would also be hit, as many had cut back planting amid the rising cost of heating greenhouses to grow salad crops.

The National Farmers' Union president, Minette Batters, said further rationing of salad items was on the cards because of the impact of higher energy costs on British growers.

She told the NFU conference in Birmingham yesterday: "Domestic production of salad, including cucumbers and tomatoes, has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1985."

Batters added that energy-intensive producers needed help with their bills: "We can do something about it, but it needs government to act to drive down inflation in primary production." From today Morrisons is putting limits of two per item on packs of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.

Asda said yesterday it was limiting shoppers to three items each on eight fresh produce lines, including broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and lettuces.