Investors scooped up a record offering of U.S. government debt that promises inflation protection Thursday, even though there are no signs that food and energy prices are running out of control.

Investors bought $15 billion worth of 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities at a negative yield at an auction for the first time in the 15 years since TIPS were introduced.

These latest 10-year TIPS cleared at a yield of minus 0.046 percent, lower than what traders had expected.

This meant investors essentially paid the U.S. government to own 10-year TIPS at a time when some of them have been hoarding Treasurys, including TIPS, due to fears about Europe’s debt crisis spiraling out of control.

“It’s a safe-haven play. It’s all about the return of capital rather than the return on capital,” said Richard Schlanger, a portfolio manager at Pioneer Investments USA in Boston.

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities has set a series of record lows in negative territory in recent days on this intense safe-haven demand.

Even tame December readings on the government’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which TIPS principal and interest payments adjust against, did not cool the bidding for these pricey securities.

The total accepted bids for the 10-year TIPS issue to the amount offered came in a ratio of nearly 3-1, which is the strongest since an auction last March.

Tags: bond market, mortgage rates

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