We visited supermarkets to see if the sunflower oil shortage affected Worcester

The majority of the UK’s sunflower oil comes from Ukraine and food businesses here are reporting that supplies are likely to run out in a few weeks, with some businesses already experiencing severe difficulties.

Some food products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead contain refined rapeseed oil as the war in Ukraine affects supplies, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) warned.

We visited several supermarkets in Worcester including Tesco and Sainsburys to see if they had a ready supply.

Waitrose - London Road 

Waitrose on London Road: Checking for sunflower oil

The shelves appeared to be well-stocked in Waitrose but there seemed to be a demand for one brand in particular.

But it's fair to say that shoppers in Waitrose were not rushing to stock their trollies with sunflower oil. 

Tescos - Mill Wood Drive

Tescos shelved with sunflower oil

Over in Tesco, the supermarket seemed to be running low on sunflower oil.

One particular oil did seem to be high in demand with multiple sunflower oil bottles being picked up off the shelves. 

Sainsbury's - St John's  

Sainsbury's sunflower stash

In comparison to the fully stocked vegetable oil on the shelf just below, it's fair to say that Sainsbury's sunflower stock was looking a little frail. 

Maybe the shoppers made a special visit to stash sunflower oil as news hits that it is becoming high in demand.

Aldi - Pheasant Street  

The sunflower search continues in Aldi

An entire crate of sunflower oil was missing from the shelves in Aldi.

And several bottles of sunflower oil had caught the eye of shoppers today.

In Aldi, other oils seemed to be fully stocked in comparison to the sunflower oil. 

Asda - Silver Street 

Asda served an interesting find

When we arrived in Asda we found bare shelves, but not for the sunflower oil.

Although some people did pick up a sunflower bottle throughout the day, the shelves were moderately stocked.