{
  "title": "U.S. food prices: at home and away from home",
  "observationStart": "2019-09",
  "observationEnd": "2026-09",
  "retrievalDateUTC": "2026-10-18",
  "geography": "U.S. city average",
  "population": "All urban consumers (CPI-U)",
  "frequency": "Monthly; annual-average M13 rows excluded",
  "seasonalAdjustment": "Not seasonally adjusted",
  "originalBase": "1982–84 = 100",
  "chartBase": "September 2019 = 100, separately for each series",
  "rebasingFormula": "100 × CPI(month) / CPI(September 2019)",
  "changeFormula": "100 × (CPI(end month) / CPI(start month) − 1)",
  "rounding": "Calculations use unrounded source CPI; display one decimal, half up. CSV rebased levels have nine decimals.",
  "series": {
    "CUUR0000SAF11": {
      "series_id": "CUUR0000SAF11",
      "area_code": "0000",
      "item_code": "SAF11",
      "seasonal": "U",
      "periodicity_code": "R",
      "base_code": "S",
      "base_period": "1982-84=100",
      "series_title": "Food at home in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted",
      "footnote_codes": "",
      "begin_year": "1947",
      "begin_period": "M01",
      "end_year": "2026",
      "end_period": "M09"
    },
    "CUUR0000SEFV": {
      "series_id": "CUUR0000SEFV",
      "area_code": "0000",
      "item_code": "SEFV",
      "seasonal": "U",
      "periodicity_code": "R",
      "base_code": "S",
      "base_period": "1982-84=100",
      "series_title": "Food away from home in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted",
      "footnote_codes": "",
      "begin_year": "1953",
      "begin_period": "M01",
      "end_year": "2026",
      "end_period": "M09"
    }
  },
  "footnotes": {
    "R": "Revised",
    "X": "Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations"
  },
  "missing": {
    "months": [
      "2025-10"
    ],
    "series": [
      "CUUR0000SAF11",
      "CUUR0000SEFV"
    ],
    "code": "X",
    "handling": "Empty rebased cells and line gaps; no interpolation or carry-forward"
  },
  "interpretation": "Changes in category price indexes, not dollar meal costs or household affordability.",
  "awayScope": "Restaurants, takeout, school and workplace meals, vending, mobile vendors and catering; not restaurants alone.",
  "source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics",
  "sourceURL": "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/cu/cu.data.11.USFoodBeverage",
  "version": 1,
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    "chart.png": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/chart.png",
    "chart_mobile.png": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/chart_mobile.png",
    "monthly.csv": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/monthly.csv",
    "source-extract.csv": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/source-extract.csv",
    "period-changes.csv": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/period-changes.csv",
    "metadata.json": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/metadata.json",
    "SOURCE_PROVENANCE.json": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/SOURCE_PROVENANCE.json",
    "README.md": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/README.md",
    "SOURCE_TERMS.txt": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/SOURCE_TERMS.txt",
    "reproduce.py": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/reproduce.py",
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    "SHA256SUMS.txt": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/SHA256SUMS.txt"
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  "sourceReleaseDate": "2026-10-14",
  "sourceReleaseURL": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_10142026.htm",
  "sourceReleaseDateMeaning": "BLS September 2026 CPI release date; not a Meplar publication date",
  "monthlySlots": 85,
  "extractedSourceRows": 170,
  "observations": 168,
  "missingValues": 2,
  "countDefinitions": "85 monthly slots per series; 170 extracted rows across two series; 168 observed values and 2 missing values",
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  "sourceTerms": "/downloads/us-food-prices/v1/SOURCE_TERMS.txt",
  "sourcePolicyURL": "https://www.bls.gov/opub/copyright-information.htm",
  "attribution": {
    "sourceData": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics",
    "chart": "Meplar",
    "BLSEmblemUsed": false
  },
  "reproducibility": {
    "csvRebuild": "Exact three CSV byte streams rebuilt offline from four frozen BLS captures using standard-library Python",
    "artwork": "Frozen accepted SVG and PNG exports verified by SHA-256; all SVG plot vertices and missing-month gaps checked against source values. The full artwork and PNG rendering are not rebuilt.",
    "artworkDimensions": {
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      "chart_mobile.svg": [
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  "caveats": [
    "The three- and four-year comparison windows have different lengths; cumulative changes are not annualized.",
    "Not seasonally adjusted; no interpolation or carry-forward for October 2025.",
    "Category price indexes do not measure dollar meal costs or household affordability.",
    "Food away from home is broader than restaurants.",
    "The comparison does not establish the causes of price changes."
  ],
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