sugar prices

Ben Bernanke insists that inflation remains "quite low." That's true, unless you need to eat. Core inflation doesn't include food prices, and they're soaring around the globe. In fact, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says its closely watched food price index hit its highest level ever in January.

Sweet could get expensive. Raw sugar prices may rise to the highest in more than 30 years by March if dry weather hits the Brazilian sugar crop, broker Newedge USA told Bloomberg News.

The United States is facing a major sugar shortage, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required). On Aug. 5, General Mills, Hershey Co, Mars Inc., and Kraft Foods alerted Thomas J. Vilsak, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, of their combined forecast of low...