Not an oeuf: Athletes report eggs shortage in Olympic village

Several athletes have complained about a shortage of food at the Olympic Village in Paris, according to reports.

Competitors have said the amount of food available, specifically eggs, which were rationed at breakfast on Wednesday, and grilled meats, is insufficient, according to the French newspaper L’Équipe, external.

The official catering partner to the Olympic Village, Sodexo Live!, confirmed “a very high demand” for certain products and said that “volumes will be increased” to “satisfy the needs of the athletes”.

The Olympic Village is set to serve approximately 13 million meals – 40,000 per day – during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“It was requested to revise upwards the quantities initially planned, which the group will be able to satisfy,” a spokesman for the Carrefour group, which is in charge of supplying fresh products to the Olympic Village, confirmed.

Feeding 15,000 international athletes from 208 territories and nations is a gargantuan task.

During the two 15-day periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than 13 million meals will be served – the equivalent of the amount of food provided at 10 football World Cups.

Athletes have access to six main areas devoted to French, Asian, Afro-Caribbean and world cuisine, with 500 different recipes catering to a wide variety of tastes.

A strict quality charter also governed the food at the Paris Olympics. It was developed over the course of four years of work with the goal of halving the carbon footprint of meals produced during the Games, in comparison to London 2012.

As a result, a quarter of all ingredients will be sourced in a 250km radius from Paris, and 20% will be certified organic.

All meat, milk and eggs will be from France, and a third of the food will be plant-based.

Two hundred water, juice and soda fountains have been installed in the Olympic Village, and only reusable cups and crockery will be offered.