UPDATE 1-Brazil inflation accelerates in month to mid-September

* IPCA-15 price index up 0.48 percent, forecast 0.45 percent

* Trailing 12-month inflation slows to 5.31 percent

By Silvio Cascione

SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Consumer inflation accelerated in Brazil in the month to mid-September, data showed on Thursday, adding to evidence that the recent shock in global food prices is having a greater impact on the world's sixth-largest economy.

Brazil's IPCA-15 inflation index rose 0.48 percent in the month to mid-September, slightly above the median of analysts' forecasts, government statistics agency IBGE said.

In the month to mid-August, the index rose 0.39 percent.

The index had been expected to rise 0.45 percent in the month to mid-September, according to the median forecast of 23 economists surveyed by Reuters.

Higher food prices have surprised Brazilian authorities in recent months, undermining their view that 12-month inflation would fall closer to a 4.5 percent target by year-end.

Inflation in the 12 months through mid-September slowed a bit from the month before, to 5.31 percent from 5.37 percent In the year-long period to mid-August, but remained far from the official target..

Stubbornly high inflation, combined with signs of an incipient economic recovery, may spell the end of the recent cycle of interest rate cuts in Brazil.

The central bank cut interest rates nine straight times since August 2011 to reignite economic growth, and analysts are split on whether the bank will make one last move on Oct. 10 or keep rates at the current record low of 7.5 percent.

Food prices rose 1.08 percent after a 0.76 percent gain in the previous reading. Beef prices rose 1.79 percent as a severe drought in the United States raised feed costs.

Personal expenses such as housekeepers' salaries gained 0.57 percent, down from 0.68 percent in mid-August. Apparel costs rose 0.47 percent, up from the month before, and housing prices such as rentals gained 0.43 percent.

Transportation prices rose 0.09 percent, after remaining unchanged one month ago. Car prices had fallen in the past few months after the government offered tax breaks to boost automobile sales and support Brazil's ailing carmakers.

Estimates for the IPCA-15 increase ranged from 0.32 percent to 0.50 percent in the Reuters poll.