Tomato-free pizza on UK menus as chefs choke on the price of fruit and veg

Italian restaurants are forced to replace classic dishes with ‘white’ versions as cost of their staple ingredient soars

Get ready for tomato-less pasta sauce and white pizza. Italian restaurants across Britain are having to ration tomatoes, increase prices and in some cases remove the pomodoro from their menus entirely as costs soar.

The price of tomatoes has increased as much as fourfold in the past year, from £5 a case to £20 a case, according to the Federazione Italian Cuochi UK (FIC UK), a chefs’ association.