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Farmers have previously called on supermarkets to increase their egg prices due to soaring feed and energy costs in the production process. The British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) said the cost of feeding hens has jumped 50 per cent, while energy prices have soared by 40 per cent.

BFREPA added that fuel charges had surged by 30 per cent with labour and packaging also becoming more expensive. The industry body says it has asked Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, and Waitrose to raise prices to help, without any success.

It claimed supermarket prices of free range and organic eggs are now below a level whereby farmers can break even, calling for at least a 40p increase per dozen eggs. A survey of egg producers by BFREPA found that 51 per cent of farmers are "seriously considering stopping production" until the price they are paid improves.

A further 18 per cent said they will make their decisions at the end of their current flock. Robert Gooch, chief executive officer of the trade group, said: "There are clear and obvious cost increases being heaped upon farmers, and retailers simply aren't sufficiently adjusting the retail price.

"Any increases being made are too little and too slow. They are suffocating businesses. This is nothing more than supermarkets putting cheap food marketing tactics above the needs of the primary producer."

Supermarkets rations cooking oil as UK shoppers face empty shelves over Ukraine war

It comes as the war in Ukraine has sparked a huge shortage in sunflower oil globally. Ukraine is the main producer of the UK's sunflower oil and, amid the horrific war in the country a huge shortage has been recorded. Shortages in sunflower oil lead to increased demand for substitutes, therefore creating shortages in all cooking oil products and driving the prices higher.

Starting yesterday, Friday, April 8, Waitrose only allows each customer to buy up to two bottles of any cooking oil, in order to control the shortage.

This includes sunflower oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil, and other products.

© Bryan RobertsSupermarket are reporting shortages in cooking oils and sunflower oil in particular

A statement from Waitrose read: "We want to ensure customers continue to have a choice of cooking oil so we are asking them to buy no more than two units each."

Restrictions are also in place for online shopping.

A message on the retailer's website reads: "To help more customers get the goods they need you can only order two from the category."

The same restrictions are put in place by Morrisons, which only allows for two bottles of any cooking oil to be bought by a consumer at once.

The restriction is also applied on the supermarket's website during online shopping.

A message reads "Maximum quantity exceeded" if a customer tries to order more than two items of the category.

Other supermarket chains are yet to ration any products, however, availability had dropped significantly.

Several products by the Tesco brand are out of stock on the retailer's online shopping website.

Unavailable products include sunflower oil and vegetable oil.

Other retailers including Sainsbury's and Co-op have also admitted shortages.

In a statement, Sainsbury's said: "It has been widely reported that the conflict in Ukraine is affecting a number of supply chains, including sunflower oil.

"We are working closely with our suppliers to make sure customers continue to have cooking oils to choose from, including olive oil, vegetable oil, and rapeseed oil."

The supermarket chain added: "In products where sunflower oil is a main ingredient, we will be substituting this with alternatives and making customers aware of these changes in store and online."

And what will they do when the alternatives are in short supply because of a reduced harvest?

Co-op has also said that it is working with suppliers to find alternatives such as rapeseed oil, the Telegraph reported.

The war in Ukraine has caused a major disruption in the global supply chain of sunflower oil leading the prices of all cooking oil to soar worldwide.

Ukraine produces 46% of the world's sunflower seed and safflower oil trade, according to USDA data.

Supply chain disruptions also come from Russia, since the country has the second-largest share in the market, accounting for 23 percent of the world market.

And the West is voluntarily sanctioning desperately needed Russian commodities out of the trade markets.

At the same time, the Food Standards Agency stated on March 24 that some food products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead contain refined rapeseed oil.

The agency said that food businesses are reporting that supplies of sunflower oil are likely to run out in a few weeks with some businesses already experiencing severe difficulties.

This has led to some food manufacturers urgently replacing sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil before being able to make the change on the label, according to the agency.

An announcement read: "We are therefore advising that food products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead have been produced using refined rapeseed oil and consumers should look out for additional information being provided by retailers and manufacturers to stay informed."

Rapeseed oil is an allergen, however, the FSA said that the food safety risk is "very low".

This is a repeating pattern of civilizations nearing collapse; the adulteration of food; an increasingly erratic climate, 'signs in the skies', civil unrest, debased currency, famine, and plague, are others.

FSA Chief Executive Emily Miles said: "We have looked at the immediate food safety risk of substituting sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil - particularly to people with a food allergy - and it is very low."

Ms Miles added: "We know allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are very rare and - if they do occur - are mild."

Express.co.uk has contacted all retailers mentioned above for comment.

Morrisons sorry for empty shelves in Hull supermarket

A popular supermarket in Hull has apologised to customers after suffering shortages of stocks on Saturday.

Morrisons, in Holderness Road, blamed supply issues for running out of lettuce, caused by "low availability". The meat and poultry aisle also had a number of empty shelves.

A customer information notice revealed the reason for the shortage of lettuce. "Due to disruptions within our supply chain, we are seeing low availability on lettuce," it read. "Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding."

© Gregory FordEmpty shelves in the meat aisle at Morrisons, Holderness Road, Hull.

One disgruntled customer affected by the shortages at Morrisons told Hull Live: "You'd expect the big supermarkets to have this sort of stuff in stock. It's worrying that they can't even get the basics like salad and chicken in.

"It's not the end of the world but when you're turning to frozen and tinned items instead it really says something about where we're going. Whatever the issue is it needs sorting."

The war in Ukraine and a number of other crises, including flooding in Spain, have raised fears of shortages of some foodstuffs. Last month the government reassured the public that action was being taken to reduce the impact on food supply chains caused by the Ukraine crisis. Before the conflict, the country was one of the largest exporters of wheat in the world.

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Co-op's new boss recently confirmed the chain's own difficulties in sourcing supplies of lettuce, as well as vegetable oil and rapeseed oil. While the oil shortages were due to Ukraine, recent floods in Spain were blamed for the reduced supplies of lettuce.

Last month, The Grocer magazine warned strikes in Spain were increasing pressure on supplies of fruit, veg and salad. Spain is a key supplier of fresh produce to the UK but has suffered a spate of bad weather and transportation issues.

Morrisons has been contacted for comment.

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