£143

cereals have risen 4.3

in the past year; milk, eggs and cheese by 4.8 per cent; vegetables by 5.7 per cent and fish by 8.5 per cent.

The British Retail Consortium’s Rachel Lund said: “It may be an expensive Christmas dinner this year as more costly imports and higher world food prices, particularly for dairy products, pushed food price inflation over four per cent year on year in October.”

A wider measure of inflation using the Consumer Price Index remained at three per cent last month as fuel prices fell. CPI was lower than the predicted 3.1 but well above the Bank of England’s two per cent target. The RPI, which includes housing costs, hit four per cent. Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said: “The Government must stop turning a blind eye to the cost of living crisis.” Think tank the Resolution Foundation said: “The rising cost of basic items affects low and middle income households far more than better-off households.” Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The Tories’ failed economic policy means working people are losing out.”

The extra amount a family will pay for food in 2018