Many shoppers across the country will be noticing new rules on the amount of bottles of cooking oil you can purchase in supermarkets.
Major stores across the country - including Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose - have been forced to ration the product due to a shortage caused by the Russia and Ukraine conflict.
Sunflower oil has been the latest product that has been affected due to the ongoing conflict.
In response to the shortage, many supermarkets have had to introduce a temporary limit on the amount of bottles you can purchase to make sure there is enough for everyone.
If you're wondering why there is a shortage and how much you can buy, then we have all the information you need.
Why is there a shortage of cooking oil?
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The main reason for the shortage is due to the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine which has led to a disruption in the supply chain.
Both countries are major producers of sunflower oil, which is also used a key ingredient in many other products.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has halted the shipments of sunflower oil products as well as leaving uncertainty over how much crop of both sunflower and rapeseed will be planted.
This shortage of sunflower oil then led to increased demand for alternative cooking oils, such as olive oil or rapeseed oil, which has had a knock-on affect on availability.
To keep up with the demand for alternatives, many UK supermarkets have began ration the amount customers can purchase when they are in-store.
The situation has also put pressure on food manufacturers, as increased prices have led them to paying more for whatever sunflower and rapeseed oil products they can buy. Other substitutes - such as palm oil - have also seen increased prices.
Iceland boss Mr Walker explained: "If you look at commodity prices, sunflower oil has gone up 1,000% in terms of the commodity cost in the market, palm oil (up) 400% and then there is things like wheat, 50%, fertiliser, 350%.
He added: "These are all unintended consequences of the war in Ukraine that is affecting supermarkets."
How much sunflower oil can you buy in the supermarkets?
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Morrisons and Waitrose started rationing cooking oil back in April 13. Since then, quite a few other UK supermarkets have implemented the same rule.
These are the current limits on the products you can buy from some supermarkets cooking oil range.
- Tesco - three bottles per person
- Morrisons - two bottles per person
- Waitrose - two bottles per person
- Iceland - one bottle per person
Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl and Aldi have not yet brought about any restrictions on the amount you can buy.
According to the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Tom Holder, the new rules are only temporary and have been brought in to make sure there is availability for everyone.
The organisation added that its members are "working with suppliers to ramp up production of alternative cooking oils, to minimise the impact on consumers".
Tesco has since put out a statement saying that they have "good availability" of all oils currently in-stock, but have brought about the restriction to make sure that all customers can get what they need.
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