Meat, eggs and dairy prices hit a high as food inflation reaches 12.4%

Food inflation has surged to a new record of 12.4% amid predictions of an ‘increasingly bleak’ winter.

And rising meat, egg and dairy prices forced fresh food inflation even higher to 14.3%, from October’s 13.3%.

Soaring energy, transport and animal feed costs threatened Christmas cheer as food bills rose ‘unabated’, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Overall shop prices are up 7.4% year-on-year – another peak since the trade body’s records began in 2005.

Coffee costs have shot up, shows the BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index.

And ‘massive’ inflation in dairy has taken a £31million chunk out of Cheddar cheese sales, prompting industry bosses to launch a campaign to stop the slide.