The cost of eating at home fell 0.2% in April after supermarket prices were flat for two straight months, helping offset continued inflation in housing and energy costs.
The food at home index is up just 1.1% over the last 12 months, according to the Consumer Price Index released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday.
USDA is forecasting that grocery prices will rise by only 1.2% for 2024 after jumping 11.4% in 2022 and 5% in 2023.
The overall CPI rose 0.3% in April, driven by higher housing and gasoline prices.
Price drops for chicken, eggs and milk and broad declines in the cost of fruits and vegetables helped drive the decline in supermarket prices in April.
Prices for chicken dropped 0.8%, while pork prices were flat and the average cost of beef was up 0.1%. The price of eggs dropped 7.3%. Milk cost 0.8% less and the cheese prices slipped 0.1%.
At the produce section, apples, oranges, potatoes and tomatoes all cost less in April, offsetting increases for bananas and lettuce. The index for fruits and vegetables was down 0.8% for the month.
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The index for cereal and bakery products rose 0.6%, driven in part by a 3.1% increase in the cost of breakfast cereals.
The inflation issue has become a thorn in the side of President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats. Ahead of the CPI's release, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., led a 12-page letter to Biden that details steps his administration should take to combat consolidation and market power in the food industry,
A statement by Biden that was released by the White House didn't acknowledge the decline in grocery costs.
"Prices are still too high—so my agenda will give families breathing room by building two million new homes to lower housing costs, taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices, and calling on grocery chains making record profits to lower grocery prices for consumers," Biden said.
