A U.N. agency says world food prices rose to a record high in December because of increased costs for sugar, grain and oilseed, as well as bad weather for some crops.
Wednesday's report from the Food and Agriculture Organization showed cost increases for wheat, corn and other grains.
An FAO economist, Abdolreza Abbassiann, said there is a lot of uncertainty with food prices, and they might rise even more.
In November, the Rome-based FAO warned the international community to brace for hard times in 2011 unless production of major food grains increases significantly.
The agency said food import bills will likely rise 11 percent globally this year and 20 percent for many developing economies with food deficits.
The FAO attributed the anticipated cost hikes largely to bad weather.