# So what shortages are you personally seeing? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [July 24, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268 "2020-07-24T23:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/281 "2020-10-12T00:44:15Z")
We also have used canned pumpkin to keep the dogs’, um, output in good condition. A few years back there was a nationwide pumpkin shortage due to crop failure and I ended up getting some restaurant-sized cans of pumpkin online. There was a recipe on the back of those for TWELVE pumpkin pies. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/282 "2020-10-12T03:08:17Z")
You must have had one heck of a regular dog! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/283 "2020-10-12T03:17:03Z")
Movin’ on, away from this orange discussion… The thinkg I’m missing is Irish beer! 🥃 My local Irish pub hasn’t had any Guinness, or Kilkenny, or Smithwicks, or Harp for months. 😩 Today, our local liquor store was also all out. 😱 Barkeep said it’s something everyone is running into - something about the supply chain for Irish beers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/284 "2020-10-12T03:29:10Z")
Are those beers actual imports, or are they produced in a US or Canadian brewery? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/285 "2020-10-12T03:36:41Z")
Well, I’m going from memory, obviously, but my recollection is they said “Brewed in Ireland”. There still are some Guinness products in the store, tinned, but they say brewed in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![scarbrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@scarbrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scarbrow)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/286 "2020-10-16T20:02:23Z")
Weirdly, I can’t buy 1 sodastream replacement cartridge on a replacement program. I usually have 1 in the machine, and 1 empty one to return. But I can buy a pack of 2 cartridges. So now I have to keep the return shipping package until the one in the machine runs out. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/287 "2020-10-18T18:44:22Z")
Romaine freakin’ lettuce. I’ve been on a Caesar salad kick for a while, and the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed Romaine getting harder and harder to find, to the point of some stores removing the Romaine section entirely. Today I had to go to 4 stores to get a small, crappy head of Romaine. On doing a little research to see if anything was going on, I noticed that Canada has implemented stricter testing protocols for Romaine on October 7th that has the industry up in arms. I’m not sure if that would affect U.S. stocks, but it might’n’t be unrelated. So, I’ll blame Canada. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/288 "2020-10-18T21:09:05Z")
Today saw the frozen vegetables cases pretty much cleared out again, unless you wanted pre-chopped onions, lima beans, or brussel sprouts. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/289 "2020-10-19T04:19:46Z")
Not a shortage, but my grocery had an entire CASE of NECCO wafers on the clearance shelf. Damn Skippy I bought that whole case. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/290 "2020-10-19T06:21:18Z")
> [@dummygladhands71](#): > > Not a shortage, but my grocery had an entire CASE of NECCO wafers on the clearance shelf. Damn Skippy I bought that whole case.  I was going to say that maybe they were on clearance because they were old and stale, but it’s not like that would make a difference.       😀 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/291 "2020-10-19T16:06:59Z")
Tortillas in almost all forms seem to have evaporated from all our mainstream groc store chains. Corn, flour, whole wheat, large, small, hard, soft; doesn’t matter. They’re _all_ missing in action. There’s only one other mention of tortillas in this thread and that was late July. Color me mystified. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/292 "2020-10-19T16:35:58Z")
Yesterday they announced new restrictions and today the news was full of reports of people stocking up. The stores say they are prepared. There is certainly plenty of Christmas cookies and chocolate, as it is mid-October. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/293 "2020-10-19T17:22:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Tortillas in almost all forms seem to have evaporated from all our mainstream groc store chains. Corn, flour, whole wheat, large, small, hard, soft; doesn’t matter. They’re _all_ missing in action. This is definitely regional. I went in for my flu shot last week, and parked my cart in front of a _very_ full tortilla endcap. > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Yesterday they announced new restrictions Who’s they? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/294 "2020-10-19T17:25:58Z")
The last four or five times I went to the market, I looked around to see what might be missing even if I didn’t need it. The markets here have been fully stocked for the last two or three months. I am about to head out again and I am sure things will still be fine. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/295 "2020-10-19T17:35:14Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > > > Yesterday they announced new restrictions > > Who’s they? @Die_Capacitrix lives in Switzerland, so presumably the authorities there. I only jumped in here on her(?) behalf because it’s already night there and your question might sit unnoticed until Euro-tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/296 "2020-10-19T17:36:31Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Who’s they? Sorry, meant to rewrite that and got distracted. Swiss Federal Council. Masks required in almost all interior spaces, restricted group sizes and recommended work from home (again). So people are panicking again. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/297 "2020-10-19T23:43:10Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I was going to say that maybe they were on clearance because they were old and stale, but it’s not like that would make a difference. Apparently them being discontinued lasted less than a year, and they started producing them again [in May](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necco_Wafers). This was news to me. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/298 "2020-10-23T11:37:15Z")
Went shopping today and again chocolate chips are missing from the shelf. Baking powder is low, as is shelf-stable yeast. However the current panic mode (as reported by the news) is meeting well with the stocking up for Christmas baking. Flour is currently buy 10 kilos, pay for only 5 kilos. There is a problem with deliveries, though. It seems that the queue is getting longer and longer. We’re close to 2 stores, so as long as they have things to buy, we’ll go there and buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/299 "2020-10-23T11:55:53Z")
I didn’t take note of any unusual bare areas on shelves yesterday (hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, disinfectant wipes, and disinfectant spray are usually bare or nearly), but Winco was super-busy. Looked like the first of the month. Didn’t take note of any exceptionally full carts, though. Walmart was pretty normal (for the one I went to). I did start worrying a bit about another surge of panic-buying after Winco. Paper goods seemed OK at both stores. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/300 "2020-10-23T12:34:46Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > chocolate chips are missing Huh, Nestle’s has changed their recipe for semi-sweet chocolate chips, and I didn’t love the new ones, so last time I shopped I bought a bag of everything to make sample chocolate chip cookies and compare. I had four types when I baked cookies the other day. Depending on timing (I shopped a few weeks ago) that might be regional or local. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268.md?page=16)