The former boss of Sainsbury’s, Justin King, has rejected claims that British supermarkets are profiteering during the cost of living crisis.

King, who served as the boss of Sainsbury’s for 10 years until stepping down in 2014, stated that both Tesco and Sainsbury’s reported a decline in their profit margins in their most recent financial results.

He said that the government and regulators should focus on helping those in need instead of considering “interfering in markets”.

Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation to investigate these claims, as food inflation continued to rise.

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Grocery price inflation fell for the third consecutive month yesterday, now sitting at 16.5% for the four weeks to 11 June, down from 17.2% in May.

“There is no profiteering,” King told City AM. “It is not grounded in the reality of publicly available and reported numbers.”

“I would encourage the CMA not to respond to the political conversation and focus on the facts, which is what their job is supposed to be,” he added.

The government previously discussed the idea of voluntary price limits for basic food items – which King called a “truly silly idea”.

“These are not the things the government should be doing,” he said. “Helping those in most need is what the government should be doing.”

“I’ve said consistently, the government should not try to interfere in markets. It actually can’t do that successfully,” he concluded.