UK markets resort to egg-rationing as bird flu hits supply

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - Two major supermarkets in Britain are rationing eggs due to supply shortages, local media reported on Wednesday.

Asda and Lidl are limiting customers to two boxes of eggs each, with other supermarkets weighing similar measures to ration or supply eggs from foreign countries.

Social media users posted pictures of empty egg racks at their local supermarkets.

The UK is currently in the grip of its largest-ever outbreak of bird flu on record, with all fowl being kept indoors to reduce the spread.

Since a confirmed outbreak is met with the mandatory culling of all fowl in an area, this has reduced the number of chickens and thus led to fewer eggs.

Another cause of the shortage is poor pay for egg farmers, many of whom have left the industry, and rising production costs, from feed to housing, further shrinking the pool of productive chickens.