A MAJOR supermarket has changed its rules around limits on fresh fruit and vegetables – and it’s good news for customers.
Asda has removed limits of three on cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries.
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But customers looking to get hold of tomatoes and peppers will still be limited to three each.
Asda said tomato and pepper stock levels should be back to normal within a couple of weeks.
It comes weeks after a number of supermarkets started rationing certain fresh products due to bad weather and transport issues in north Africa and Europe.
Tesco, Aldi and Lidl limited purchases of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers to three items per person.
Meanwhile, Morrisons customers were hit with a two items per customer limit on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.
The Sun has contacted all supermarkets for an update on their rules.
Issues began in January as cold weather affected tomatoes ripening, followed by heavy rain, flooding and cancelled ferries, which impacted the volume of fruit and veg arriving into Britain.
Spain, one of Britain’s other major sources of stock, was also hit with bad weather and ferry journeys were axed.
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Producers were also reporting having to cut back on their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.
Amidst the shortages, environment secretary Therese Coffey told MPs the public should should eat turnips instead of tomatoes.
Meanwhile, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Tom Bradshaw, said a reliance on foreign imports had left the UK vulnerable to “shock weather events”.
It’s not the first time in recent months shoppers have been faced with empty supermarket shelves.
In November 2022, farmers were warning about staple groceries being in short supply as poor pay, rising costs and lack of a reliable workforce left Britain’s food supply stretched.
Lea Valley Growers Association Lee Stiles even told The Sun: “We are sleepwalking into a food crisis tunnel without any light at the end”.
In April of the same year, shoppers were faced with food stuffs rationing after supermarkets were forced to limit the sale of sunflower oil.
The shortages were sparked by the war in Ukraine.
Waitrose and Morrisons were limiting shoppers to two bottles of the oil and Iceland set a limit at one bottle per person.
And as far back as 2021, Brits were faced with rows of empty supermarket shelves due to a lorry driver shortage.
