WASHINGTON, US - US consumers are being hammered by record fuel costs and the steepest food price spikes in 17 years, sparking a 'recession diet' and pushing more Americans to seek help at food banks, a Congressional committee heard on Thursday.

Experts headed to Capitol Hill to respond to lawmakers' concerns over how the United States will cope with a mounting global food crisis that has reached the country's shores and threatens to upend millions of US households.

'While we have been cringing at gas stations as gas prices have more than doubled since 2001, now it's a double whammy,' said Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney decried the record profits reported this week by major oil companies even as US families were struggling to make ends meet.

'In some areas of the country, people are paying four dollars for both a gallon (3.79 liters) of milk and a gallon of gas,' forcing families to substitute key parts of their diet such as meats, fish and vegetables with lower-cost pasta and canned foods, Ms Maloney said.

'Some are calling it the recession diet,' she said.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the Consumer Price Index for food increased by four percent in 2007, the largest increase since 1990, and in 2008 it is expected to shoot up another four to five per cent, USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber testified.

'Several key factors are shaping the current situation, including domestic and global economic growth, global weather, rising input costs for energy, international export restrictions, and new product makets, particularly biofuels,' Mr Glauber said. --AFP

A representative of the nation's food-bank network, America's Second Harvest, said a 'true crisis' has emerged with its network seeing a 17 per cent increase in service over the past three months, and 1.3 million new people joining the country's food stamp programme in the past year. -- AFP