Yes it is true. They were removed due to their volatility some time ago.
Yes, they removed the two biggest items in most folks’ budget because those two particular items, food and fuel, actually inflate!
However, what is really happening is biflation. Essentials like food and fuel (and commodities) will inflate while items bought for credit and non-essentials will deflate. So you see a collapse in home prices and automobile sales while food and fuel prices rise.
What in fact is happening, is the dollar is losing its value and will continue to do so. You will not notice it as all other currencies are fiat currencies and are doing the same just now. What you will notice will be a rapid rise in commodities, food and fuel prices relative to any given fiat currency.
Food and energy were removed so the fake rates reported would not show a true rate of inflation for substances that regular people use the most.
The rate of Social Security cost of living increase has been based on inflation, so if you disregard the two components that most people require you can downwardly distort the rate.