A cabinet minister has confirmed that the government has planned for food shortages this summer amid economic strains caused by the Iran war.

Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle said ministers were engaging in “scenario planning” as Iran continues to block the major oil shipping waterway, the Strait of Hormuz.

It comes after The Times reported the UK could endure a shortage of chicken, pork and other supermarket goods in the coming months.

Food supplies are not expected to reach critical levels but there could be less variety on the shelves as a result, according to the newspaper.

Kyle told Times Radio: “We are doing this kind of scenario planning.

“Bearing in mind that back in Covid, Boris Johnson missed five Cobra meetings in the lead up to it.

“I can tell you because I’m in these meetings, the prime minister has been there since the very start and he is going through personally and driving deep dives into lots of areas of resilience throughout our economy.

“And you can see from the actions I’ve taken because CO2 has made its way onto the front pages today. So that’s why we’re having this conversation.

“People should be reassured that we are doing this kind of action behind the scenes to keep resilience into our economy.”

Kyle pointed to his decision to “mothball” a company called Ensus in the North East, which produces CO2 as a by-product, when it faced bankruptcy earlier this year.

“In the first couple of days of the conflict erupting in the Middle East, I unmothballed Ensus. And I can tell you that it is now back up to full operation producing CO2,” he said.

Kyle also told Sky News he would “reassure people” that shortages of CO2 is “not a concern for our economy”.

“Right now people should go on as they are, enjoying beer, enjoying their meats, enjoying all the salads,” he said.

Government officials have concluded that in a “reasonable worst-case scenario”, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a carbon dioxide shortage.

According to The Times, insiders predict CO2 levels could fall to just 18% of what they currently are if a key UK plant faces a mechanical error, and if high gas costs trigger a fall in ammonia and fertiliser production, both of which make CO2 as a by-product.

The gas is used in a variety of products, including in the process of slaughtering pigs and most chickens.

CO2 is also used to boost the shelf life of food like salad, packaged meats and baked goods.

It’s needed to make drinks fizzy, too, meaning a shortage would hit farming, hospitality, and breweries.

There could be disruption to healthcare and civil nuclear sectors as well, by hitting dry ice supplies and affecting storage for cold blood, organs and vaccines, as well as Britain’s national electricity supply.

The Times reported that officials from No.10, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence have secretly rehearsed how to respond if there’s a CO2 shortage in an event called “Exercise Turnstone”.

They have reportedly prepared a response on the assumption Strait of Hormuz is still shut and no permanent peace deal had been agreed by June 2026.

A CO2 shortage last hit the UK in 2022 after energy price shocks caused by the Ukraine war.

The report comes as YouGov polling found seven in 10 Brits (69%) think the country is poorly prepared for a major conflict.

A No.10 spokesperson said the government is “stress testing a wide range of scenarios, however unlikely they may be, to make sure that our supply chains and the economy are always protected”.

“If there are any resilience issues, we will be upfront with the public about it,” he added.

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