MILAN, Aug 28: Italian consumers struggling to make ends meet will get help from their mobile phones next month when the government starts sending text messages to tell them where to buy cheap food.

The Agriculture Ministry has joined forces with a number of Italian consumer groups to set up a free-of-charge SMS service to provide information about prices of 84 food products and nearby farmers markets.

With the new service, shoppers could send a text message with a single word, for example “bread”, to a free number to get information about prices, the ministry said.

“We are giving families a new, quick and simple instrument to get information and therefore be able to choose and save money,” Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said in a statement.

Italians have started eating less bread and meat this year as consumer prices soared, according to a recent survey.

EU-harmonised inflation hit a record high of 4 per cent in July, powered by surging energy costs and prices of basic foods like bread and pasta.—Reuters