A Rewe market in downtown Frankfurt.

The picture that has been showing here for a few days is reminiscent of the beginning of the corona pandemic.

Empty shelves and a sign: "Dear neighbors, in order to meet the increased demand, we are currently limiting the demand for the following items: rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, frying oil.

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Customers keep stopping in front of the shelves with a questioning look - only to ask a member of staff not a minute later whether there is anything left in the warehouse.

The difference to the early pandemic: This time it's not about pasta or toilet paper.

Sunflower oil in particular is currently scarce.

Russia and Ukraine are the two main producing countries.

Because of the war, the oil stopped flowing.

Therefore, supermarket customers now have to switch to other vegetable oils.

Whether refined, cold-pressed, native, made from rapeseed, linseed or olives - the selection is large.

Sunflower oil can be used for many things, from salad dressings to marble cakes and marinades.

Some customers are already making hamster purchases out of fear of not getting any more of it.

In the Frankfurt supermarket there is a note: "Please show solidarity and also think of your neighbors - therefore refrain from unnecessary stockpiling."

To the supermarket instead of to the gas station?

However, the good advice does not stop many people from buying in advance, as supermarket employees report.

Customers come several times a day to buy new bottles of oil.

“Sometimes they hide it behind other products or shelves so nobody can find it.

They will come back later to pick it up.

The chaos that arises is quite annoying for us.” But why do you need such amounts of cooking oil at all?

The employees can't explain it.

“No normal household needs so much sunflower oil.

Nobody can really bake that much,” says the employee of a neighboring discounter.

One assumption: Because of the rapidly increasing prices for petrol and diesel, also caused by the Ukraine war, consumers could be tempted to fill their tanks with vegetable or even heating oil as a substitute fuel.

A liter of sunflower oil from the supermarket: 1.79 euros.

A liter of petrol at the gas station two kilometers out of town, also on Tuesday afternoon: 2.21 euros.

So why not oil from plastic bottles in the nozzles?

That's not a good idea.

Even if the price difference is large and the trouble with decanting could be financially worthwhile - the ADAC clearly advises against it.

"Vegetable oils lead to starting difficulties and have a negative effect on the performance and service life of the engine," says the automobile club.

In the worst case, engine damage could even occur, which would cost the car owner dearly.

Old diesel engines could possibly cope with such a refueling for a short time.

Car manufacturers also advise against using cooking oil in conventional engines.

A conversion is conceivable, but costs up to 5000 euros, depending on the scope.

The use of heating oil in diesel engines is even forbidden by law due to the different tax rates, quite apart from the serious consequences for the environment.

The engine's performance would be reduced by the oil - and its emissions would be greatly increased by soot.

Expensive savings!