Rising whey prices are part of the reason why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has boosted its estimate of Class III milk prices for the coming year.
Food prices may ease in 2012 due to a slowing global economy, though no drastic drop from high levels is expected, the new director-general of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
Shoppers are feeling the pinch of higher food prices at the supermarket, and most consumers are convinced they will be shelling out even more cash for groceries next year.
Food prices are likely to become more volatile in coming years, increasing the risk that more poor people in import-dependent countries will go hungry, the United Nations said in an annual report on food insecurity.
