BRIEFS. consumer

The price of basic foods reaches a record high

The cost of the Canasta Básica de Alimentos rose again in January, this time to a record high, according to the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas.

The canasta, which includes basic food and other items, reached an average of $239.05 last month, an increase of 13.3 percent over January of 2007 and 0.6 percent more than last December.

From December 2007 through January 2009, prices went up for potatoes (36 percent), yellow cheese (10.8 percent), milk (4.6 percent), powdered milk (5 percent), tea (8.7 percent), coffee (11.8 percent), cooking oil (8 percent) and pan de flauta (2.6 percent).

The Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor says the supermarkets that contributed most to the 13 percent increase overall are Super 99 (97.9 percent), Rey (2.5 percent), Riba Smith (1.3 percent) y Xtra (6.4 percent).