January 4/New York/Bloomberg Businessweek -- U.S. inflation for food at home may have peaked after crop prices fell for the first time in three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) top economist said.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Agriculture Total Return Index of eight commodities dropped 16% last year, the biggest decline since 2008. Cocoa and sugar led the retreat for food items. Coffee, soybeans and wheat also declined.