Most important meal costs more
U.S. consumers are paying 8% to 10% more for breakfast foods than a year earlier because of rising prices for corn, wheat, milk and other commodities, a U.S. Department of Agriculture economist said.
Commodity inflation “is starting to work its way through the system,” USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag said. Food prices overall probably will increase 3.5% to 4% this year, about one percentage point more than usual, he said.
Increased use of corn for ethanol and falling supplies of orange juice and milk are partly responsible for the jump in breakfast-food prices, Leibtag said.
Corn futures have surged 64% in Chicago in the last year, boosting costs to feed livestock and poultry and driving up meat and egg prices.
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