Mexico City  - Mexico froze until the end of the year the prices of 150 food products, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Wednesday following an agreement with the Confederation of Chambers of Industry (CONCAMIN).

Calderon noted that the deal includes canned products like sardines, tuna, soups and vegetables, and also some brands of oil and other processed goods.

The move came amid growing concern over the rising prices of foodstuffs around the world.

Weeks ago, Mexico announced deals to stabilize prices with producers and packers of rice, beans and the Mexican staple, corn.

Agreements were also reached with mills and bakers to keep the kilogramme of corn "tortilla" - the most important element in the Mexican diet, since it is used to accompany all meals - at a price of just over 50 cents.

Early last year, there were demonstrations in Mexico over the rise in the local price of corn that was pushed up by global demand for ethanol fuel and food. Since then, Mexican authorities have tried to increase local production.

Annual inflation in May was 4.95 per cent, well over official predictions of 3-3.5 per cent that the government had made for 2008. According to Mexico's Central Bank, foodstuffs were key in pushing up the inflation rate.

Trade unions have asked the government to grant a general wage increase to help workers come to terms with rising prices, but the authorities and private businesses alike rejected the proposal as inflationary. (dpa)