U.S. Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control

[hypocritexposer]

FORT LEE, N.J., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Inflation Association today issued the following food inflation alert to its http://inflation.us members:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, its sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India.

Some of the startling food price increases on a year-over-year basis include, fresh and dry vegetables up 56.1%, fresh fruits and melons up 28.8%, eggs for fresh use up 33.6%, pork up 19.1%, beef and veal up 10.7% and dairy products up 9.7%. On October 30th, 2009, NIA predicted that inflation would appear next in food and agriculture, but we never anticipated that it would spiral so far out of control this quickly.

The PPI foreshadows price increases that will later occur in the retail sector. With U-6 unemployment rising last month to 16.9%, many retailers are currently reluctant to pass along rising prices to consumers, but they will soon be forced to do so if they want to avoid reporting huge losses to shareholders.

Food stamp usage in the U.S. has now increased for 14 consecutive months. There are now 39.4 million Americans on food stamps, up 22.4% from one year ago. The U.S. government is now paying out more to Americans in benefits than it collects in taxes. As food inflation continues to surge, our country will soon have no choice but to cut back on food stamps and other entitlement programs.

Most financial experts in the mainstream media are proclaiming that the recession is over and inflation is not a problem in the U.S. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that rising food and gasoline prices accounted for 58% of February's year-over-year 3.85% rise in retail sales. NIA believes price inflation is beginning to accelerate in many areas of the economy besides food and energy, and all increases in U.S. retail sales this year will be entirely due to inflation.

To receive NIA's latest updates about inflation and the economy, sign-up for the free NIA newsletter at: http://inflation.us

About us:

The National Inflation Association is an organization that is dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation. The NIA offers free membership at http://www.inflation.us and provides its members with articles about the economy and inflation, news stories, important charts not shown by the mainstream media; YouTube videos featuring Jim Rogers, Marc Faber, Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, and others; and profiles of gold, silver, and agriculture companies that we believe could prosper in an inflationary environment.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-food-inflation-spiraling-out-of-control-91848684.html

 

[PORKER]

Since the 2008 rankings were published, Canada's food safety system was shaken by the listeriosis outbreak of August 2008. Twenty-two Canadians, mostly elderly living in long-term care facilities, died after consuming tainted deli meats produced at a federally regulated plant operated by Maple Leaf Foods.


In the wake of the outbreak, the federal government committed $75 million to implement the recommendations of Sheila Weatherill, the independent investigator brought in to identify the gaps in the system that led to the outbreak. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has also spent part of the $113 million earmarked in 2008 to improve food and consumer safety through the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan.


If Weatherill's recommendations are implemented and Canada fixes its food traceability problems, Charlebois said, Canada can raise its global food safety ranking from superior to the best in the world.


"The study's objective is to look at policy, and policy does take time to implement, of course," said Charlebois.


According to the 2010 ranking, Canada does an excellent job at governance and recalls, ranking No. 1 in this category. It considers risk-management plans, the level of clarity of food recall regulations and the number of recalls.


Canada ranks second in consumer affairs, which measures incidence of reported illness by food-borne pathogens, rates of inspections and audits, food safety education programs, labelling and indications of allergens and ease of access to public health information.


But Canada falls down on traceability in the food chain, ranked at the bottom alongside the United States. "Canada and the U.S. do not have well-established farm-to-fork traceability systems for any food product," the report states, noting Canada is the only country to earn a lower grade in this area in 2010 compared to 2008.


"While it does have a tracking system for its livestock industry, (it) is still developing a farm-to-fork traceability system."


Canada also lags behind many countries on biosecurity, which measures the rate of use of agricultural chemicals and bioterrorism strategy. Canada ranked 11th in this area.


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