A number of supermarket chains in Great Britain have started to impose restrictions on the purchase of eggs after supplies were interrupted by bird flu, Reuters reported, according to Agerpres.

Britain is facing its worst outbreak of bird flu, affecting egg supplies and raising fears of turkey and chicken shortages for Christmas dinner.

Asda, the third-largest grocery chain after leaders Tesco and Sainsbury’s, told customers they could buy a maximum of two cartons of eggs, while Lidl imposed a limit of three.

“While bird flu has disrupted supplies for some farms, retailers are experts at managing supply chains and are working hard to reduce the impact on consumers,” said Andrew Opie, director of the British Retail Consortium, the body that represents UK supermarkets. “Some stores have placed temporary limits on the number of boxes a customer can purchase to ensure affordability for all,” Opie added.

A representative of Sainsbury’s confirmed that the chain is experiencing some difficulties with the supply of eggs, but clarified that it did not introduce restrictions on purchases, but decided to purchase eggs from Italy.

The British Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) noted that another factor limiting supply is the increase in egg production costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Farmers are basically losing money because the price paid at supermarkets is not being passed on to farmers along the supply chain. Under these conditions, a large number of producers lose money and can no longer afford to produce eggs,” said one of the sources. from BFREPA.

However, Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s chief veterinarian, played down the threat to Christmas dinner from bird flu. Middlemiss said around one billion birds are killed in the UK each year, while the current bird flu epidemic has left just 2.3 million birds dead or euthanised, a small percentage of the total annual production.