Cost of British food basics increases by up to 80% in a year

Asda says it remains ‘the cheapest supermarket for a big shop every month for the last three years’ despite the Which? report. Photograph: Islandstock/Alamy

The price of staple foods such as cheddar cheese, white bread and pork sausages has soared by up to 80% in some shops over the past year, in further evidence of how inflation is hitting those on the tightest budgets the hardest.

Porridge oats topped the price increase ranking among a basket of British basics measured by the consumer group Which?, with prices up by an average of 35.5% followed by skimmed milk, which was up by 33.6%, and cheddar cheese, which rose by 28.3%.