A GOVERNMENT-BACKED food organization was ordered to suspend its activity for two months due to its involvement in noodle price-fixing, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday.

The Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, a non-profit organization under the China Association for Science and Technology, held a meeting on July 5 with its member companies and decided to raise the prices of 10 major brands of low-end instant noodles - accounting for 60 percent of the market - on July 26.

It also illegally used the name "China Branch of the International Instant Noodle Association," the ministry said.

Prices jumped up to 40 percent on low-end products and sparked "strong feedback" from consumers.

The ministry has ordered the institute to stop its illegal practices and prohibited it from using the name.

The National Development and Reform Commission demanded companies cut prices after receiving public complaints and conducting an investigation.

Meanwhile, another industry organization in Jilin City, in northeastern China's Jilin Province, was also punished for colluding with its member companies to raise prices, China Youth Daily said.

Jilin Bean Product Association held a meeting with more than 10 companies on August 8 and decided to raise the wholesale price of dry tofu from four yuan (53 US cents) to 4.60 yuan per kilogram and sent a notice to retailers, suggesting they raise the retail price to six yuan from 4.60 yuan.

The Jilin price supervision bureau has punished the association and ordered it to scrap the agreement.

China's top economic planning agency has ordered local pricing authorities to investigate the pricing of major food products.

China's consumer price index rose 5.6 percent in July - the largest one-month jump in almost a decade - driven by the surging cost of food.