Cost of some foods rises 40 per cent

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Chicken breasts, ham, mayonnaise and croissants have all jumped in price by more than 40 per cent.
The startling figures highlight the pressure on inflation from the spiralling cost of food.

The category with the biggest rise was meat and fish, up by 22.9 per cent, followed by store cupboard and general items, a rise of 15 per cent, and fresh fruit and vegetables, an increase of 14.7 per cent.

"There is probably more pain to come but then things will start to stabilise," said Neil Saunders, of retail analysts Verdict Research which carried out the study for the BBC.

"We are probably not going to see food prices come down (next year) but they may not go up as
much."

The researchers broke down food purchases in a typical trolley into 13 categories.

The overall cost of food rose by 8.3 per cent but there were sharp differences between the various groups with baby food down 2.5 per cent, dairy products, 1.8 per cent lower, and ready meals also slightly cheaper.

However, frozen foods were up 5.8 per cent, bakery and cereals six per cent higher, drink 6.8 per cent, pet food 6.5 per cent, household goods 4.4 per cent, health and beauty 0.4 per cent and laundry, washing and paper a big rise of 14.4 per cent.

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which has to keep a lid on rising inflation, maintained interest rates at 5 per cent yesterday despite calls from business and union leaders for a cut to stave off a painful recession.

CPI inflation, the Government's preferred measure, hit 4.4 per cent in July, and is forecast to rise further to five per cent, far exceeding the Treasury and Bank of England's target of two per cent.

Millions of families are seeing their standard of living fall as inflation outstrips pay rises.
A separate study by the British Retail Consortium, published earlier this week, found that food price inflation over the past year was running at ten per cent.

SOARING COST OF FOOD

Ham (125g pack): +45.4%
Chicken breasts (skinless): +42.6%
Mayonnaise (400g): +40.6%
Pack of four croissants: +47.4%
Original/Bolognese pasta: +46.2%
Basmati rice (500g): +42.1%
Medium whole chicken: +41.9%

Source: Verdict Research