Supermarkets in the UK don't appear to be selling turnips after the Tory Government urged shoppers to buy them amid food shortages in stores.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey suggested turnip would be a suitable alternative while others remain in short supply - seemingly sparking a run on the root veg.
Hours after the MP spoke in the House of Commons, photos emerged of shelves at Tesco saying turnips had been discontinued.
The supermarket told The Mirror turnips have been discontinued for some time.
Shoppers at Sainsbury's also reported a lack of turnips in their stores, with celeriac put in its place instead.
Customers instead were offered swede, a similar root vegetable from Sweden.
Other supermarkets such as Co-op, Asda and Morrisons did not list turnips at all when searched for on their websites.
As growers warned the fruit and veg crisis could last until May, photos emerged of empty turnip crates across the country. At Sainsbury’s in Nine Elms, South London, celeriac was sold instead.
An empty crate was turned over at a Tesco store in Ely, Cambs, with a sign stating: “Sorry out of stock.”
An image from the store’s website also showed no turnips available.
And when searching for the veg on Ocado, a notice said: “We apologise that some produce is currently out of stock.”
Although the shopping site later said it did not currently sell turnips, as did Tesco.
It comes as UK supermarkets impose rations on fresh fruit and veg products as it faces shortages due to bad weather in Morrocco and Spain and high energy costs.
These two countries are some of the UK's biggest importers of fruit and vegetables during the winter months.
British farmers are also struggling to power their greenhouses which are used to grow specific crops during the colder months.
Currently, four UK supermarkets have buying limits imposed on certain items.
Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco are putting limits of two per item and Asda limiting shoppers to three items.
Peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are the most common item being rationed right now, with Asda adding limits to lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower, and raspberries.
The Environment Secretary told MPs that the issue of shortages would last for another two to four weeks.
She then told MPs: "It's important to make sure that we cherish the specialisms that we have in this country.
"A lot of people would be eating turnips right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce, and tomatoes and similar but I'm conscious that consumers want a year-round choice and that is what our supermarkets, food producers and growers around the world try to satisfy."
Ms Coffey's patronising advice sparked accusations that she was out of touch with ordinary people’s needs.
She also claimed the shortages would last two to four weeks.
However, the secretary of the Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA), Lee Stiles, warned “it's going to be longer than a few weeks”.
Speaking to the BBC he said: "The majority of tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are not going to be around in big volumes until May, so it’s going to be a longer than a few weeks.”
The Co-op today joined Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons in rationing certain fruit and veg.
Growers are warning of a shortage of UK leeks amid fears stocks will be exhausted by April. They may need to be imported.
The Government was accused of having "no urgent plan" to fix the current shortages by Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine saying people were "rightly alarmed" by the chronic shortages the UK is facing.
