While outrageously high inflation has been an ongoing issue over the last year, rising food prices in particular continue to shock Canadians, with basic items coming at exorbitant costs to the consumer while grocery stores profit from it.

Whether it's $15 for a bottle of Maple syrup, $9 for a pack of romaine lettuce, $27 per kilogram of chicken or $45 for a standard dinner, residents have been feeling the squeeze at their local supermarket, turning to food banks and even resorting to stealing to cope with the change.

Groceries are getting even more expensive in Canada as food inflation hits 41-year high https://t.co/o8Q2QD82O3 #Canada

— blogTO (@blogTO) September 20, 2022

Even though the pace of inflation is slowing according to StatCan data, groceries are still way more than they were as recently as early 2022, and people are still having a hard time dealing with the creeping prices.

This week, one person in Toronto noticed how high the price of a bag of potato chips has gotten, quipping on Reddit that they are "old enough to remember when chips only cost 99 cents (a year ago)." Attached to the post is a photo of No Name brand all dressed chips, which are priced at two for $5 or $2.99 each at Loblaws.

In hundreds of comments on the popular post, fellow shoppers are recounting the prices they've encountered for the usually cheap snack food, including $1.49 for a bag of the same chips at Fresh Co., where they used to be 99 cents — "a 50 per cent increase in less than two years," one person noted.

"I just stopped buying chips," another added. "I miss them and can absolutely afford them but can't justify paying that much."

Some joked about how such prices are inadvertently making Canadians healthier, while others made sarcastic remarks, such as "Loblaws at Queen and Portland had an unreal deal of two bags of Miss Vickie’s for $10! With bargains this good, it's so hard to imagine they’re making record breaking profits!"

But what’s Gaylen take home pay 🤷🏼‍♀️👀

— monocle (@klenicles) December 6, 2022

This certainly isn't the first time people in Toronto have taken issue with the amount of money it costs to buy a bag of chips lately, or with the cost of other specific items and food in general.

StatCan's latest Consumer Price Index does state that year over year, "prices for food purchased from stores rose to a lesser extent in March, with the slowdown stemming from lower prices for fresh fruit and vegetables."

But, we still saw prices in this category inflate by 9.7 per cent between March 2022 and March 2023 (compared to 10.6 per cent between February 2022 and February 2023).

Price gouging at its best! PC table napkins $6.99 one week $9.99 the next week. Justify this Galen Weston!

— Carol Hayden-Mead (@Chayden123456) February 24, 2023

And, unfortunately, the researchers behind Canada's Food Price Report predict that our grocery bills will keep surging this year, with prices slated to go up by an average of 10.4 per cent in Ontario.