Chancellor Alistair Darling has summoned supermarket chiefs to a meeting at Downing Street today to discuss soaring food prices.

The British Retail Consortium, National Farmers Union and commodity traders will also attend the summit, The Times reported.

Darling is concerned that rising food prices are creating inflationary pressure and that the poor have been worst hit.

Research by Ernst & Young has shown that the spiralling cost of food and energy was responsible for more than half of the UK’s 3 per cent inflation rate. Dependent upon this year’s wheat harvest, more food prices rises are possible.

Executives from Tesco and Asda will attend today’s meeting. Sainsbury’s will be represented by the British Retail Consortium.

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