Scotland’s rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon has called for an urgent meeting with the UK Government amid concerns of a shortage of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Ms Gougeon said a short-term deal with carbon dioxide manufacturer CF Fertilisers is drawing to a close with no future plan in place.
The MSP for Angus North and Mearns said there is concern over the impact of CO2 shortages on the country’s food and drink sector.
The gas is used in food packaging of perishable foods such as meat and salads to inhibit the growth of bacteria.
It typically prolongs the shelf life of products such as beef steak by about five days.
CO2 is also used in the stunning of animals before slaughter.
Ms Gougeon said: “Carbon dioxide plays a key role in our economy and failure to secure adequate supplies will have a significant impact on our agriculture sector, wider food and drink manufacturing and also our hospitality industry.
“The failure of UK ministers to address meaningfully the crisis for Scotland’s food and drink industry is unacceptable.
“I am also concerned that, even if CO2 supplies are secured, increased costs will be incurred which will be passed on to other parts of the supply chain at a time when it is vulnerable to price fluctuations.
“That simply cannot happen – businesses cannot afford to absorb these costs, and should not have to, given this crisis is entirely UK-made.”
She is calling on the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, to arrange an emergency meeting with the Cabinet secretaries from the devolved nations to discuss supply concerns.
Ms Gougeon added: “He needs to outline the UK Government’s plans to save Scotland and the UK’s food and drink industry from further harm, particularly to secure alternative CO2 supplies.
“Most importantly, he needs to come up with a plan to support businesses through this crisis.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel