Is there still a crumpet shortage, has Warburtons started making them again and why is there a CO2 crisis?
But why do you need Carbon Dioxide to make crumpets, and will crumpets ever be made in Britain again? Here's our lowdown...
A SHORTAGE of Carbon Dioxide brought Britain's crumpet production to a grinding halt.
But thankfully Warburtons has issued a statement saying they are back in business and everyone can get their hands on the glorious breakfast treat once more - hurrah! Here's our lowdown...
What is the CO2 shortage and how did it affect Warburtons' crumpets?
CO2 - or carbon dioxide - is used to package baked goods and extend their shelf life.
But a serious European shortage meant that Warburtons were producing "nowhere near" the 1.5million crumpets it normally makes every week.
The bakery had to stop making crumpets at two out of four its factories, and limited production at a third site, because of short supply.
A spokesperson said: "This [shortage] will remain the case until the CO2 supply returns to normal.
"But, rest assured we are working really hard to keep our products on Britain’s shelves."
Fortunately, the crumpet crisis was short-lived, as Warburtons confirmed they had a fresh CO2 delivery on the evening of Tuesday 3 July.
A spokesperson said crumpets have "already started to hit the shelves and all should be back to normal by the end of the week."
What else is CO2 used for?
THE clear odourless gass is a byproduct of ammonia and has plenty of uses.
Food and drink
CO2 is used to change the atmosphere that food is packaged in to extend the shelf life of fresh meat and salads.
About 60 per cent of slaughter houses rely on it to stun and kill pig and poultry too.
It's also used to carbonate liquid and make them fizzy, like pop including Coke and Pepsi, as well as beers like largar.
The drinks industry use it to bottle and keg the beer too.
The gas is also used to treat water and make it safe to drink.
Hospitals
Thanks to its steralising capabilities, it's used to clean and steralise equiptment at hospitals.
It's also used on patients in some invasive surgery, like in an endoscopy.
The gas is also sometimes given to patients during and after they have had general anasthetic if they have difficulty breathing.
Fire extinguishers and oil industry
Fires feed on oxygen and when there's CO2 in the air there is less of it to burn. Thanks to this property, it's used in fire extinguishers to put them out.
It's used to extract oil too from reserves by pushing the oil through pipes when it's put under high pressure.
How are we running out of gas?
The latest shortage of gas was due to the fact that too many factories shut at the same time across Europe.
It's also because the high price of natural gas means production has been limited in the UK.
In addition to this a fall in global ammonia prices means it has been cheaper for British fertiliser producers to buy in ammonia from abroad instead of producing it in the UK.
Amid all of these factors, only one of the plants in the UK is operational.
Food and drink suppliers rely on the British based plants as the gas is expensive to import.
What happens if we run out of gas?
The food and drink industry could see shortages of produce.
This is because carbon dioxide is used to slaughter farm animals, package food and make drinks fizzy.
Nine of the UK's largest poultry plants are now facing a critical shortage of the gas.
It means that up to 60 per cent of the UK's poultry processing plants could be knocked-out within days.
5 facts you never knew about crumpets
- The average Warburtons crumpet has 260 holes
- British crumpets were originally called "pikelets" and only became known as "crumpets" in the 14th century
- Prince Harry's favourite crumpet topping is Marmite
- Following Pippa Middleton's show-stopping entrance at the Royal Wedding in 2011, someone created edible artwork out of 15,000 crumpets, depicting her derriere
- Warburtons make over 59,000 crumpets per hour
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Wetherspoons, which has over 1,000 pubs across the UK, warned that supply of draught lager and fizzy drinks could be cut off within days.
The shortage of gas has been heightened due to warm weather across Europe and World Cup when demand for fizzy drinks and beer is higher than normal.
And Coca-Cola has "temporarily paused" some production due to the national shortage of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is also used to create dry ice which keeps food frozen during transportation.