The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday maintained its forecast for U.S. food prices to rise by 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2014, in line with historic norms, but raised its estimates of price increases for dairy and fresh fruit.
The agency evaluated expected increases in overall food, food-at-home and food-away-from-home prices.
USDA now forecasts 2014 U.S. fresh fruit prices to jump by 5 to 6 percent, against an earlier forecast of a 3.5 to 4.5 percent increase.
"This surge has been driven mostly by citrus prices, which remain under pressure from the greening in Florida and the lingering effects of the winter freeze in southern California. Citrus fruit prices increased another 3.8 percent in May and are up 22.5 percent on the year," USDA said.
