food prices

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its Sam's Club wholesale club chain is limiting the sale of some rice to four bags per member visit because of what it described as "supply and demand trends." Jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rices will be subject to those purchase restrictions, as long as they are allowed by law, in the 594 clubs across the U.S., said Sam's Club spokeswoman Kristy Reed. New Mexico and Idaho are the only two states that forbid such practice, she said.

In an "unforeseen and unprecedented" shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels, the top food and agriculture official of the United Nations warned Monday.

The "BRIC" nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are all experiencing rising inflation and adopting similar measures to prevent prices of goods spiraling out of control, according to a report by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Food prices are expected to keep rising worldwide in the years ahead due to a number of factors, in turn posing a threat to the world's poor, an international think tank warned Tuesday n a report issued in Beijing. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) cited income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization as factors which were converging to transform food production, markets, and consumption.