EU countries watching food prices closely
Sweden competition authority says sector 39;oligopolistic39;
Says margins 39;had better be39; connected to costs
But difficult to isolate exact cause of inflation

STOCKHOLM, June 26 Reuters Sweden39;s competition authority has expressed concern about margins being charged by supermarkets and wholesalers as it probes possible profiteering in a country that saw the largest food price increases in the Nordics this year.

Food inflation is a key driver of the costofliving crisis in a number of European countries, forcing some to impose price caps on certain food items to help struggling consumers.

France39;s biggest food companies have pledged to cut prices on hundreds of products from next month after being threatened with financial sanctions if they didn39;t. Hungary also imposed caps but will phase them out from August.

Sweden39;s competition authority on Tuesday will publish the initial findings from an investigation into food prices and competition requested by Sweden39;s finance ministry in March.

When we look at the margins on the retail and wholesale side, we see some cause of concern in terms of how they39;re developing, Martin Mandorff, head of market abuse at the competition authority, told Reuters.

The way the margins are developing, it had better be connected to increasing cost, otherwise we might be quite worried, said Mandorff.

Mandorff said it is difficult to isolate cost factors like energy prices and the…