China, already beset by a worrying real estate bubble, is now grappling with surging prices for a dinner table staple closer to home: garlic.
The world's largest producer of the pungent bulbs, China has seen wholesale prices rocket as high as fifteen-fold since March in large cities such as Beijing.
Schools have been hoarding garlic for pupils to eat because of its reputed properties in warding off swine flu. Supplies have been cut because farmers in China and elsewhere slashed plantings when prices collapsed in the financial crisis.
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