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Food prices in UK supermarkets and shops have risen by
8.3% since January, an index compiled for the BBC shows.
Meat and fish - up 22.9% - registered the biggest price
increases for any one category in the survey, with fresh
fruit and vegetables up 14.7%.
Retail analysts Verdict Research also found price rises
of nearly 50% for some individual food items.
The figures come amid growing concern about the high
cost of food, which is exceeding the official inflation
rate.
The BBC Food Price Index compiled by Verdict is designed
to track the cost of a typical trolley of UK food items.
It divides household supermarket purchases into 13
categories, including frozen foods, fresh fruit and
vegetables, ready meals and dairy goods.
The index showed that during the eight months from
January to August, meat and fish prices went up by
22.9%, making them the fastest-rising category.
General store-cupboard items, such as tinned foods, were
the next most inflation-busting sector, registering a
15% increase, while fresh fruit and vegetables went up
by 14.7%.
Seven items in the survey were found to have gone up in
price by more than 40%.
A pack of four croissants was 47.4% more expensive and a
125g packet of ham went up by 45.4%, while the price of
a medium-sized chicken increased by 41.9%.
The figures produced for the BBC are in line with other
recently-published research showing the impact of food
price rises on UK household budgets.
On Wednesday, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said
that food price inflation over the past year amounted to
10% - more than twice the official Consumer Prices Index
(CPI) inflation rate of 4.4%.
The BRC figures indicated that the rate of increase for
fresh food items was even higher, at 11.9%.
CPI inflation is likely to rise to about 5% in coming
months, analysts say.
Concern about inflation has led the Bank of England's
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to resist calls for cuts
in interest rates, despite fears that the UK economy may
be heading for recession if the cost of borrowing money
does not come down.
On Thursday, the MPC voted to keep interest rates on
hold at 5% for a fifth month.
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