Mission Critical

Shortages of some fruit and vegetables could last for up to a month, The Environment secretary has said.

Therese Coffey 's comment came after Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco placed limits on items such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Speaking in The Commons , Ms Coffey told MPs she anticipated " The Situation will last about another two to four weeks".

Ministers were talking to retailers about How To avoid such problems in The Future , she added.

The shortages have been caused largely by bad weather in Southern Europe and Africa.

In addition, High Energy prices mean some producers are reining in on greenhouse growing in the UK and the Netherlands.

Responding to an urgent question in The House of Commons, Ms Coffey said: " We anticipate The Situation will last about another two to four weeks.

" It is important that we try and make sure that we get alternative sourcing options. "

She Said The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had already been in discussion with retailers.

" It is why there will be further discussions led by ministers as well, so that we can try and get over this and try and avoid similar situations in The Future . "

Shadow environment secretary Jim Mcmahon said: " There is genuine public concern about the availability of food and as The Secretary responsible for our food Security - and let's bear in mind food Security is National Security - this is absolutely Mission Critical . "

Ms Coffey added: " I Wish to reiterate UK food Security does remain resilient and we continue to expect industry to be able to mitigate supply problems through alternative sourcing options. "

At present, Tesco customers can buy up to three tomatoes, three peppers and three cucumbers in one visit.

Asda has the same restrictions on those products, but has gone further, also putting limits on lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries. They are also restricted to three purchases of each on one visit.

Aldi has imposed a limit of three per customer on sales of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes

In Morrisons, shoppers are restricted to two tomatoes, two cucumbers, two lettuces and two peppers.

Of The Remaining supermarkets, the Co-op told The Bbc on Thursday there were " no plans to introduce limits on fruit and veg".

Sainsbury's said it currently had " no purchase limits in place". Likewise Lidl and Waitrose have not brought in any limits.

Source of news: bbc.com