Washington: Food producers feel ethanol pinch

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Sunday, June 1, 2008
By: Herman Wang (Contact)

WASHINGTON — Is your soft drink costing you more? Blame corn. Is your pork chop more expensive? Spending more money to bake? Blame corn.

The cob-cultured kernels are taking heat for much of the recent runup in prices on everyday goods, at least when food producers, grocery chains and restaurants are pointing fingers.

These businesses protest that the federal government’s mandate to make more ethanol — most of which comes from corn — has caused corn demand to spike, resulting in higher prices for the crop. And higher prices on corn mean higher prices on many items because it’s used in everything from cereal and snacks to sweeteners and feed for livestock.

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