LARD may be unfashionable but there is a national shortage which is threatening supplies of Christmas cakes and mince pies.

Even Yorkshire pudding could be missing from this weekend’s Sunday roast.

Many supermarkets have been out of lard for the past two weeks and traditional pastry cooks have had to scour corner shops for a pack.

There has probably never been such a rush for lard since wartime rationing or the austerity years of the 1950s.

These days, healthconscious Britons prefer to use vegetable fats, but many people aged more than 50 swear by lard and insist that it makes nicer pastry. Margerine makes pastry too short and is more expensive.

The poor supply, which is also affecting the continent, is being blamed on former eastern bloc countries which joined the European Union on May 1.

Meat industry buyers from these countries have been snapping up cheap cuts of pork and using them for their sausages, salamis and pies. It is this excess meat which traditionally has been rendered to fat to make lard. One source said the east European buyers were placing bulk orders for a regular supply of this meat, outpricing the lard manufacturers.

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