Soaring grocery bills and surging restaurant prices are costing Americans 11.3% of their paychecks, the highest amount in 33 years, data from the federal government shows.

That’s the most since 1991, when food cost Americans 11.4% of their income. President George H.W. Bush was preparing for the Gulf War, Nirvana was topping the charts and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was in theaters.

While the consumer price index has tamped down from a high of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.1% last month, restaurant prices were still rising, by 5.1% last month from a year ago.

Last year, grocery prices continued to rise by 5%, and fast-food prices shot up 5.8%, according to CPI data.

“If you look historically after periods of inflation, there’s really no period you could point to where [food] prices go back down,” Steve Cahillane, chief executive of snack food giant Kellanova, tells The Wall Street Journal. “They tend to be sticky.”

Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi concurs, telling the New York Post: “In 2022 and 2023, it was boom times for restaurants, which gives them latitude to raise prices.”

Indeed, restaurants, fast-food chains, grocery stores, and food manufacturers are coping with high labor costs and expensive commodities, such as beef and cocoa.

In 2023, the cost for fats and oils rose 9%; the cost of sugar and sweets shot up by 8.7%; and cereals climbed 8.4%.

McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said earlier this month the home of the Big Whopper would work harder to offer better values to its customers, after it was reported that a Big Mac meal at a Darien, Conn., McDonald's cost $18.

That beat the shocking $15 Big Mac prediction an economist made just two days prior.

“I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability,” Kempczinski said.

Zandi thinks this is more lip service than reality, saying: “Businesses really don’t want to cut prices. They will do it if demand is falling and they have no options, but the more palatable strategy is to hold the line until affordability is reestablished.”

• Price of Big Macs Could Go Up to $15