The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported a 1.1 per cent rise in the consumer price index (CPI) for food at home, taking the total rise for food to 2.7 per cent over the last three months.
The overall index was up 0.5 per cent in March, but the food index, including food at home and away from home, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent.
Food eaten away from home increased by 0.3 per cent, its biggest rise since September last year.
The US Department of Agriculture has recorded that the CPI for food was at its lowest level for 48 years in 2010 –rising just 0.8 per cent in a two-year period –but has forecast a 3-4 per cent increase by the end of 2011.
