Edible Oils, the largest cooking oil bottler for UK shops, has warned that it only has a few weeks’ supply of sunflower oil left.
It is estimated that around 80% of the global supply of sunflower oil originates from Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact on the product’s supply globally.
Hundreds of products made in the UK, including ready meals, biscuits and mayonnaise all contain sunflower oil as an essential ingredient. Food manufacturers are now rushing to find an alternative.
Edible Oils, which packages oil for 75% of the UK retail market, is ramping up supplies of other oils for shoppers to deal with shortages.
Kim Matthews, commercial director at Edible Oils, told the BBC: “From a UK consumer perspective, sunflower oil is the biggest oil. It’s used more than anything else. It’s a fast-moving situation.
“We’re still trying to see if we can get some more but it’s looking very tight.”
Matthews added that the shortage could last more than a year.
An alternative?
This follows an announcement from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland, which advised consumers that some food products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead contain refined rapeseed oil.
The FSA said that this was necessary to maintain the supply of certain food products containing ingredients that have become increasingly difficult to source because of the conflict in Ukraine.
FSA chief executive Emily Miles said: “FSA and FSS have been working hard to understand the recent pressures on our food supply chain and the interim measures needed to make sure certain foods – like crisps, breaded fish, frozen vegetables and chips – remain on sale here.
“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. We know allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are very rare and – if they do occur – are mild.”
She added: “Retaining consumer trust remains an absolute priority for both organisations and we are urgently working with the food industry and other partners to ensure labels on food where sunflower oil has been replaced by refined rapeseed oil are made accurate as soon as possible.”
