The rich nations' club said they were "deeply concerned" about soaring food prices and short supplies in some developing countries in a statement at their annual summit in northern Japan, but they announced no new food aid.

The G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- said it was "imperative to remove export restrictions" that hinder humanitarian purchases of food.

A number of developing nations have restricted exports to ensure they can feed their own populations.

"We also call for countries with sufficient food stocks to make available a part of their surplus for countries in need, in times of significantly increasing prices and in a way not to distort trade," the G8 said.

Japan has already moved to release some of its rice mountain to countries suffering short supplies.

Rising food prices have pushed 100 million people below the poverty line, the World Bank estimates, and have sparked protests and even riots in some parts of the world, while also threatening world economic growth.

Experts have blamed a number of factors such as rising oil prices, growing use of biofuels and increased consumption of high-calorie food, particularly meat, in emerging economies.

"The negative impacts of this recent trend could push millions more back into poverty," the G8 said in a statement on food security.

The G8 said they were "determined to take all possible measures" to ease the food crisis, noting that they had committed more than 10 billion dollars since January to support food aid and other remedial measures.

Members said they would "explore options on a coordinated approach on stock management," following a proposal to set up a system of emergency food reserves much like oil stockpiles.

They said measures were also needed to boost world food production and investment in agriculture.

The leaders pledged to work to ensure the use of biofuels does not affect food security, vowing to accelerate the development of second-generation biofuels produced from the inedible parts of plants.

Biofuels, derived from organic materials such as palm oil and sugar beet, were once seen as a promising way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming by cutting the use of fossil fuels.

But some experts have warned recently that current biofuels policy could push up grain prices and cause greenhouse gas emissions rather than savings.

The aid agency Oxfam said the G8 were blind to the reality of biofuel use, saying one tank of corn-based ethanol for a sports utility vehicle could feed a poor person for a year.

"The G8 leaders do not seem to get it," Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, said in a statement.

"The facts are clear: G8 biofuels policies are 75 percent of the problem, yet the leaders barely mention them and blithely continue to burn food in their cars," he said, referring to a leaked World Bank report saying biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by three quarters.

The world's most powerful leaders earlier put aside debate on tackling the global food shortages to enjoy a rich banquet of world delicacies ranging from caviar and hairy crab to cold Kyoto beef.

US President George W. Bush and other G8 leaders late Monday slipped off their shoes and sat on Japanese tatami mats for an eight-course gala dinner to mark the start of their annual summit in northern Japan.

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