As Chinese people eat better foods, they are not just eating meat and drinking more milk, they are also eating more vegetables and more fruits, experts said.

Figures of urban per capita consumption of non-grain items show that the increase in fruit consumption has doubled over the past 16 years. While urbanites consumed more milk during that time, the average per capita milk consumption of the whole country also stands at 13.5 kg, only one-fifth of the world average.

The ethanol connection

Experts have said there is ample evidence to show that the current round of inflation in food prices is not so much a result of developing nations' rising consumption, but rather a by-product of developed nations' pursuit of grain-based biofuels.

The International Monetary Foundation (IMF) has warned that an increasing global reliance on grain as a source of fuel could drive up food prices in poor countries.

"The use of food as a source of fuel may have serious implications for the demand for food if the expansion of biofuels continues," the IMF said in its twice-yearly report on the world economy, issued last October.

Similarly, a World Bank report based on a detailed analysis of the food crisis and conducted by senior economist Don Mitchell has showed that biofuels have forced world food prices up by 75 percent.

"Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases," the Guardian quoted the leaked World Bank report earlier this month.

The 75-percent figure sharply contradicted claims by the US government, that biofuels contribute less than 3 percent to food price hikes.