It really started to get interesting in January, didn't it? That's when prices at grocery stores in Illinois and throughout the U.S. reached a record-breaking high with the overall price of food costing 6.5% more than it did in 2021, marking the highest rate of inflation since the 1980s.

If you're hoping that price increases will ease up (and exactly who isn't?), it seems that sort of thing is not going to be happening anytime soon. According to AgWeb.com, the price of food-at-home will continue to increase between 7% and 8% for the rest of this year.

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Nearly Everything You'll Find In Illinois' Grocery Stores Is Being Hit Hard By Inflation, But There's One Particular Staple That Has Seen A Bigger Price Increase Than The Others

When I bounced this off of a co-worker earlier today, I asked him to guess which food has seen the highest increase in Illinois grocery stores. He seemed quite confident in saying "meat."

But it's not meat.

Then he reconfigured his thinking and guessed "milk."

Still not right.

Cheese? Butter? Produce? Seafood? Bread? Pudding?

Again, no. But here's a hint: this food can be both a meal or an ingredient. 

Here are a few more clues if you need them.

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Faces on the eggs. Difference faces living together - Diversity concept
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Everything Has Gone Up In Price, But Eggs Are Skyrocketing

When you compare the cost with previous prices, the food that has risen the most in price is the incredible, edible egg (if you're too young to remember the jingle, I'm sorry).

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), between March and April of this year, the average price of a dozen eggs in the U.S. jumped from $2.05 to $2.52, which works out to be 23%.

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For fun (it won't be fun), think back to last December here in Illinois, when the average cost for a dozen eggs was just $1.79. We're looking at nearly double the price today.

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