The nuclear threat to our cuppa

DURING the Second World War, it was, according to Winston Churchill, "more important to the soldiers than munitions", while George Orwell considered it "one of the mainstays of civilisation".

Now it has emerged the role of the great British cuppa was so important in the 1950s that one of the main fears was that the country would run out of tea.

In documents released today under the Freedom of Information Act, Whitehall officials wrote that the tea situation would be "very serious" if there was a widespread attack on the UK by A bombs and H bombs.

Such was the severity of the situation that officials – drafted in to draw up contingency plans for food supplies in the event of a nuclear war – recommended that tea was rationed to just 1oz per week, half the ration imposed during the war and enough to make one or two weak cups a day.

It was anticipated that stocks would be lost and imports significantly delayed. The papers, released by the National Archives in Kew. "The tea position would be very serious with a loss of 75 per cent of stocks and substantial delays in imports and with no system of rationing it would be wrong to consider that even 1oz per head per week could be ensured," reads one paper dated April 1955. "No satisfactory solution has yet been found," it added.

Tea, which was rationed just two days after war broke out in 1939 and was restricted until 1952 in order to conserve stocks, was said to be morale-boosting during the war and continued to be considered an essential in 1950s Britain.

Concerns were also raised about shortages of other food stuffs, including bread, milk, meat, fats and sugar.

The Ministry of Food was asked to draw up contingency plans for how to feed the nation if feared attacks on London, Birmingham, Merseyside, Manchester and Clydeside – all potential H-bomb targets – were carried out.

Another of the documents, which date from 1954 to 1956, stated: "The advent of thermo-nuclear weapons ... has presented us with a new and much more difficult set of food defence problems."

The objective of planning should be to be "completely ready to maintain supplies of food to the people of these islands, sufficient in volume to keep them in good heart and health from the onset of a thermonuclear attack on this country."

The report adds: "It has become increasingly clear that the severity of the attack which the enemy could launch would produce a catastrophe in the face of which past measures would be fatally deficient."

Arrangements for the stockpiling of food and emergency feeding and equipment were among items listed for discussion at ministry meetings.

The former wartime emergency bread organisation was re-established and emergency officers from the trade appointed, one document noted.

Paul Addison, a post-war historian, said that the revelations were "extremely interesting" and that the concerns would have been driven by the "hang-over" of Second World War rationing and shortages.

The author of Churchill: the Unexpected Hero added that the link between tea and state of British morale was in part influenced by the wartime leader. "Churchill had very strong feelings about tea," Mr Addison said. "He thought the British moral depended on it, possibly quite rightly.

"This was a politician who was interested in food issues from early in his career and led a campaign to keep down the price of bread.

"He was very conscious that the nation marched on its stomach. Even in postwar Britain, there were a lot of concerns about nutrition.

"There was still a wartime mentality – that is key to all this. The fear would be that people just wouldn't have enough to keep going."

OUR FAVOURITE DRINK IS GOOD FOR THE HEALTH

TEA is Britain's favourite hot drink, with 165 million cups consumed daily compared with 70 million of coffee.

The fashion for tea was inspired by Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese bride of Charles II, who introduced it to England's royal court in the 17th century.

China is the largest producer of tea in the world with an output of 1,028,000 tonnes. India is second with 956,000 tonnes.

The tea bag was invented in the United States in 1908, but it did not catch on in Britain until it was promoted by Tetley in 1953.

Tea is a natural source of polyphenols and flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties. That means they soak up free radicals, which have been associated with cancer and heart disease.

Experts claim that drinking four cups a day gives health benefits, including promoting iron absorption.

There are 1,500 varieties grown around the world.