UK energy crisis: Government races to avert food shortages

The British government is racing to avert shortages of meat, poultry and packaged foods amid a crisis in the food processing industry triggered by soaring energy costs

LONDON -- The British government is racing to avert shortages of meat, poultry and packaged foods amid a crisis in the food processing industry triggered by soaring energy costs.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Tuesday that he hopes to reach a deal with the U.K.’s primary supplier of food-grade carbon dioxide to restore supplies of the gas that is used to stun animals before slaughter, preserve fruits and vegetables before packaging and to put the fizz into carbonated beverages.

Kwarteng is in talks with the company, CF Industries, which halted operations at its U.K. plants last week due to high natural gas prices.

“We’re hopeful that we can get something sorted today and get the production up and running in the next few days,” Kwarteng told the BBC. “It may come at some cost. We’re still hammering out details. We’re still looking at a plan.”