British food giant Tesco has put up limits on purchasing on essential items like eggs, toilet paper, rice, and soap. The new purchasing rules were rolled out as the United Kingdom undergoes stricter lockdown measures in view of mutated coronavirus reports.
Under the new shopping rules, each customer at the supermarket is now limited to one item of toilet roll, and up to three products of eggs, rice, soap and handwash. The supermarket company has introduced these measures to keep a smooth flow of supply in the holiday season where people tend to buy extra stuff. Tesco has maintained a three-item limit on essential items such as flour, dried pasta and antibacterial wipes for several months now but the latest restriction on items like eggs, rice, soap etc came recently.
Tesco had previously introduced a buying limit on toilet roll last month as they expected another wave of panic buying. This time Tesco is asking its customers to “shop as normal”, saying it has plenty of food up to 25 December, reports the Guardian.
Meanwhile, another supermarket brand Morrisons has also placed a cap on purchasing certain food items.
The report further added that supermarkets and wholesalers across the United Kingdom have stated that due to the travel ban imposed by France people may face scarcity of citrus fruits and vegetables like broccoli and lettuce.
Speaking to BBC, Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, said that his supermarket chains are taking preemptive measures to prevent a repeat of the panic-buying that led to product shortages in March. He also urged shoppers to not worry about any sort of shortage and shop normally.
Walker went on to add that his supermarket chain was not currently considering limiting purchases on any product. However, he did mention that there had been a small surge in interest in the usual essential products like toilet roll, but it was nothing compared to the warzone that it had created back in March.
The hoarding of essential products like soaps, toilet papers back in March had left empty shelves for the vulnerable population and health workers.
Last week, UK reported a mutated version of coronavirus cases among its people which led to a lockdown in the holiday season. Many countries including India have restricted flights from the UK in order to prevent the further spread of the virus.