Food bills are to surge by £357 this year, which could potentially put more families into food poverty, according to a report by CEBR.

Average households spent £2,940 on food last year but this is expected to increase by 12.1%, pushing the annual shop up to £3,297, according to a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) for cereal giant Kellogg’s.

Currently, 4.7 million consumers spend at least 10% of their income on feeding the family, while the richest spend 4%. As prices rise a well-balanced diet will become a luxury for many, said the Daily Mirror.

The amount Britain spends on food and drink has increased 23% but the amount being consumed has fallen 7%.

Food prices are rising by about 3.5% each year, more than the average cost of living increases. This is in part due to poor harvests, pushing up the price of bread, fruit, vegetable and animal feed prices.

The report reveals that last year 280,000 families turned to food banks for help, which is a 400% rise over four years.