More particularly, in 2013 beef is set to rise 4% to 5%, dairy 3.5% to 4.5%, and bakery products and cereals 3% to 4%.

FORBES: Rising Food Costs: How The Drought Will Increase Your Grocery Bill

But many restaurants, pubs and butchers still offer beef on the bone, particularly to their regular customers.

ECONOMIST: The beef ban: Filleted | The

They may be particularly wary of setting precedents that they may later regret: the beef war is widely seen as a forerunner for a larger battle about genetically modified crops.

ECONOMIST: At daggers drawn