Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the resilience of carbon dioxide supplies for the food and drink sectors.

Towards the end of 2021, approximately 80% of UK carbon dioxide (CO2) was sourced from a single UK producer. The market has now diversified and reliance on a single producer has now diminished. Currently, only 42% of supply comes from this producer, with the rest of CO2 supply met by other producers ranging from biofuel plants, anaerobic digestion plants (AD) and European imports. In addition, the Government is supporting the further diversification of the market though work to ensure that CO2 from AD plants meets food and beverage or industrial grade standards.

All major slaughterhouses were surveyed earlier this year on their CO2 resilience. The majority of these slaughterhouses have mitigation strategies in place or do not use CO2. The Government continues to analyse the situation to ensure that UK food and drink businesses and abattoirs, are able to secure CO2.