Pasta, bread and crisps among biggest UK budget food price increases

theguardian.com:

UK consumers are facing significantly bigger increases in the price of some budget food items including pasta, crisps and bread, new experimental data shows, as poorer families bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis.

Highlighting the challenge for low-income households, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed prices for some low-cost groceries increased at a much faster rate than for general inflation in the year to April.

The price of pasta jumped the most from a basket of 30 basic food items compiled by government statisticians, with an increase of 50% from a year earlier – more than five times the headline rate of inflation of 9% for the same period.

The figures also highlighted above average inflation price rises for crisps (up 17%), bread (16%), minced beef (16%) and rice (15%).

The ONS decided to compile the experimental data, tracking price changes for the lowest-cost everyday groceries sold by supermarkets online, after the anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe highlighted the risks facing the poorest households in Britain from much faster increases in the price of budget brand items.

However, the ONS said it found the inflation rate overall for the 30 everyday groceries it selected was about 6%, roughly the same as the 6.7% average inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic drinks in the past year, with the price of some budget food items including potatoes, cheese and pizza falling over the period.

Monroe, who held talks with the ONS over compiling the data, welcomed the publication of the figures, saying they backed up her own research and evidence from January. “The hikes in the value brands and basics have been much higher than average inflation stats,” she tweeted.

“As I have said for 10