Two years ago when the pandemic started, people were forced to ration items such as toilet paper and even until now, paracetamol, to avoid shortages.
There is currently a shortage of eggs across the country but these have been explained by farmers being hit by a mixture of rising prices and an outbreak of bird flu.
Earlier this week, Asda and Lidl announced they would be limiting customers to two boxes of eggs each with Tesco also considering the move.
Read more: 'I spent the afternoon in Asda to see if its £1 meal deal for over 60s works'
Other supermarkets are yet to put limits in place but following a visit to the stores across Leeds, there is an obvious lack of eggs on the shelves.
We went to Asda in Killingbeck, Lidl in Gipton, Morrisons in Harehills, Sainsburys in Colton, Tesco in Seacroft and Aldi in Rothwell, to explore what the situation was like in stores and to test the ration.
Normally when I go food shopping, the egg shelves are usually well stocked but my visits on Wednesday afternoon were far from normal in some places.
It was evident that there was some sort of supply issue in some of the supermarkets as there weren’t as many eggs on the shelves as usual and like many social media posts that have been shared earlier this week, we found one store without any at all.
Aldi in Rothwell had no eggs when we went to the shop to our surprise but there was also nothing to indicate there is any sort of rationing in place. The supermarket is yet to say anything about the egg shortage.
On the other hand, Asda had clear signage in the stores telling customers of the ration and they could only purchase two boxes of eggs. However, I didn't see any signs about the limit for customers in Lidl.
A sign in Asda reads: “We are currently experiencing supply issues across our fresh eggs range, we are working hard to resolve these and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
It must be noted that there were scores of the 12 packs of eggs but there weren't many packs for people only wanting to buy just half a dozen eggs.
We headed to another Sainsbury's who have also confirmed supply issues. While things looked normal in the aisle with eggs, there was a sign stating the problems they were facing but no limit was in place for customers.
Tesco had a similar story especially if you were looking to just get half a dozen eggs, some people have complained online about a lack of eggs but there wasn't much of a struggle to get eggs there.
The only store that looked normal was Morrisons, the shelves were well stocked with eggs. There was a wide range of options available for shoppers making the supermarket look vastly different to its competitors.
A spokesperson for the company said that they weren’t rationing eggs in stores and it is not experiencing any major supply issues which is no surprise at all following a visit.
Despite some stores having no limit on the purchase of eggs, for our test we left the store with only two packs of half a dozen eggs to ensure there would be enough for everyone. They will also be donated to a foodbank.
What farmers have said
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) told the BBC farmers were being squeezed by the price of chicken feed - which has spiked due to the Ukraine war - and sky-high energy costs.
Its members claim they've only received between 5p and 10p more despite the price of a dozen eggs rising by about 45p in the supermarkets since March.
"Feeding hens is now at least 50% more expensive than it was, and energy prices have soared in the same way that consumers have seen their domestic bills rise," the BFREPA said in a statement. Spending on fuel has grown by 30%, while labour and packaging also costs more."
A recent survey of 163 farmers affiliated with the BFREPA show 33% have already reduced or stopped their egg production. Farmers are also suffering following the biggest ever outbreak of Avian Influenza, which has resulted in millions of birds being culled or killed. There has also been a knock-on effect of birds dying during the heatwave this summer.
However, the Department Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has denied there are any supply chain issues. A spokesperson said: "We understand the difficulties the bird flu outbreak is causing for farmers, however the laying hen population is approximately 38million so it's unlikely to affect the overall supply."
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