Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to assess food cost inflation at supermarkets.

Defra monitors all key food commodities closely. The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group tracks UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade, and recent developments. The Government monitors consumer food prices using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) that is produced by the Office for National Statistics.

In September 2026 CPI food price inflation was 1.3%, unchanged from August 2026 and July 2026. It remains close to its lowest level since October 2021 (1.2%).