WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Gas Prices Start to Affect Food Prices

Gas Prices Start to Affect Food Prices

TOLEDO -- High gas prices may not only pinch your wallet at the pump but also at the supermarket. Some stores and even restaurants may have to charge more to cover their costs.

Talk about sticker shock.  Hal Spradlin couldn't believe pump prices when he filled up his delivery truck Tuesday morning. Usually $65 gets him close to a full tank.  But Tuesday?  "Three-quarters of a tank," Spradlin said.  And by week's end, Hal will nearly pay three times as much.  "It's an average of $180 a week to fill this thing up.  Twenty cents a gallon makes a big difference," said Spradlin.

If you think what Hal pays at the pump doesn't affect you, you're wrong.  Hal delivers produce for Sam Okun, a food wholesale business in downtown Toledo.  Even though the company does not charge extra for gas, the increase cost is built in to the price of some products.  "Lettuce that cost us $8 before, we were getting $10 now.  We are [selling it for] $10.50.  It is affecting the price of the commodity that the customer is buying," said Neil Bornstein of Sam Okun.

Since shops like Sam Okun sells to both retail stores and restuarants, you could be feeling the pinch of high gas prices at both the pump and dinner table.

Some analysts expect the price of gas to continue to rise. Oil prices hit another all-time high in trading on Monday, with a barrell of crude oil goint for $63.94 cents a barrel.  That's more than three times the price it cost three years ago.

This comes as the US announced it was closing its Embassy and Consulates in Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday because of security threats. There are also continuing concerns that earlier shutdowns of American oil refineries will reduce supply. At least seven US refineries have reported problems of one kind or another in the last two weeks.

Oil prices have risen even though OPEC said Friday that it increased oil production by 300,000 barrels a day in the last two weeks.

Have you seen a good gas price?  Want to know what gas prices other people are reporting?  Click here to go to News 11's Gas Watch.