Cost of living: food staples have increased in price by 8% across main UK supermarkets

Supermarket staples like pasta, tinned tomatoes and strawberry jam increased in price by around 8% in just one year.

According to new figures, the overall price of a basket of 15 standard food items rose by £1.32.

More than 17,000 price increases

The data analysed by the BBC came from the retail research firm Assosia, which tracked the average cost of grocery items at Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

The company recorded more than 17,000 price increases across the main supermarkets in January, more than double the number in the same month last year, and across every category.

Not all products have seen an increase, though. Items like carrots and mild cheddar fell slightly in price.

Analysing food prices ‘a bit of a minefield’

Assosia director Kay Staniland said the findings were a result of selecting popular products that were comparable across the ranges of value and standard.

She added in comments to the BBC: “Looking at food prices is a bit of a minefield.

“I think the figures show that retailers are trying to avoid the biggest increases to value lines as much as possible. But these value lines do make up a small part of total ranges.

“The standard mid-tier range is where the largest volume of sales come from.”

It comes after figures released last month from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found shoppers are facing the highest price rises for almost ten years.

Food inflation rose from 2.4% in December to 2.7% in January, with price rises reaching the highest rate since October 2013, according to BRC.

Cost of diesel reaches new high

The data comes after it was revealed that diesel prices have reached a new high, leading to fears that businesses will further increase prices for consumers.

The AA said the average price of a litre of the fuel reached 151.21p on Thursday 10 February.

Average petrol prices are 147.67p, which is within 0.05p of its most expensive level.

Many companies have already warned they will increase prices due to rising costs from raw materials, wages and energy bills.

AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “Businesses warned this week that they have no option but to pass on higher costs to consumers.

“The latest jump in the price of diesel, the workhorse fuel of business and haulage, ramps up that inflationary pressure even more.”

Additional reporting by PA

A message from the editor: Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.