Food, Inflation | featured news

Rising food costs and higher rents offset a drop in gas prices last month, leaving consumer prices only slightly higher in October compared with the previous month.

Global alarm over a potential repeat of the 2008 food crisis escalated on Thursday after data showed food prices had jumped 6 percent last month and importers were snapping up a shriveled U.S. grain crop, helping drive corn prices to a new record.

The record drought gripping half the country will help push food prices up by 3 percent to 4 percent next year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. Milk, eggs,beef, poultry and pork prices will all be affected by the drought, which has pushed up prices for feed. Beef prices are expected to see the biggest jump at 4 percent to 5 percent. Dairy product prices are forecast to climb 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent; poultry and egg prices are projected to rise 3 percent to 4 percent; and pork prices are expected to rise 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2013, the agency said.

U.S. wholesale prices rose only slightly last month, as higher costs for food and pickup trucks offset another drop in energy prices. But overall inflation stayed mild.

Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame. The Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in September, below a 0.4 percent rise in August. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.1 percent, the smallest rise since March.

For the first time since the recession, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is raising its menu prices in the Northeast and Southeast over the next few weeks, with changes in other markets to follow, the company said.

Global food prices will remain high and volatile as record food production will only just meet demand, according to the UN.

Hunger was such a constant companion in Yao Qizhong's childhood that even now, at age 40, he'll stoop down to salvage a single clove of garlic that falls from his table at the Beijing market where he hawks fresh produce....

As food costs are expected to rise about four percent in the United States and Europe from last year, McDonald's plans to raise its prices slightly and gradually. In March, the company raised all menu items by one percent, reports Nation's Restaurant News, and plans to "keep taking small, additional menu price increases."Read More...

Wholesale prices surged last month at their fastest pace in just over 1-1/2 years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years.