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Global Food Costs Keep Climbing in Threat to Consumer Wallets

  • UN FAO’s food price index rose for a 10th month in March
  • Vegetable oil prices reached the highest in almost a decade
Bottles of vegetable oil are for sale at a Lenta hypermarket in Russia.
Bottles of vegetable oil are for sale at a Lenta hypermarket in Russia.

Photographer: Kirill Kukhmar\TASS\Getty Images

The global food-price rally that’s stoking inflation worries and hitting consumers around the world shows little sign of slowing.

Even with grain prices taking a breather on good crop prospects, a United Nations gauge of global food costs rose for a 10th month in March to the highest since 2014. Last month’s advance was driven by a surge in vegetable oils amid stronger demand and tight inventories, according to Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.