FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank, spooked by soaring prices for food and fuel, raised interest rates on Thursday, joining several other central banks in battling a global eruption of inflation. With the quarter-point increase, the central bank followed those in Sweden and Norway that raised rates this week, citing inflation. The Federal Reserve in the United States, where short-term interest rates are only half of those in Europe, has so far declined to join them.The European Central Bank’s