Food inflation eased slightly for the second month in a row in May but remained close to record highs according to figures out this morning
Marketing agency Kantar said annual grocery inflation was 17.2% in the four weeks to May 14, and while that was down from 17.3% in April , it was the third fastest rate it has recorded since 2008.
Prices are rising fastest in products such as eggs and ambient cooking sauces, their research finds and consumers are paying £833 more per year for their food than last year.
Prices for some products that had seen the sharpest rises, such as milk, butter, bread, pasta, vegetable and sunflower oil, have started to fall.
Kantar said the average cost of four pints of milk has come down by 8 pence since last month, but noted prices are still 30 pence higher than this time last year.
It again highlighted that consumers are skirting higher prices by choosing more own-label goods, sales of which grew by 15.2% over the month, almost double that of branded products which rose by 8.3%.
