DOJ opens investigation into egg companies for price-fixing
Posted in Daily
| The probe comes as egg prices hit record highs. |
| By Marcia Brown | 03/07/2025 03:59 PM EST |
The eggs price is displayed on the edge of a shelf at a grocery store in Glenview, Illinois, on Feb. 10, 2025. | Nam Y. Huh/AP The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation’s largest egg producers are conspiring to keep prices high as the bird flu outbreak worsens and grocery stores start setting rations for customers, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The price-fixing investigation is in very early stages and targets large egg producers such as Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, the people said. The Capitol Forum first reported the DOJ investigation. The Justice Department declined to comment. Cal-Maine and Rose Acre did not immediately respond to requests for comment. More than 160 million commercial poultry have died or been culled as a result of this current outbreak of avian influenza, which dates back to 2022. Egg-laying hens have been hit particularly hard, and egg prices have soared as a result: In January, the average price of a dozen large, grade-A eggs was $4.95, a record high according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced a $1 billion plan to slow the spread of the virus and lower egg prices, including by exploring egg imports as a means to boost the national supply and lower prices. Some groups, including the anti-monopoly organization Farm Action, have recently called for an investigation into egg producers, alleging that the companies are taking advantage of the worsening virus to raise prices beyond what their increased costs would justify. In February, Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, a Democrat, urged FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson to investigate egg industry price practices to address Americans’ cost-of-living increases. Cal-Maine and other egg producers paid $53 million in 2023 after being found guilty of price-fixing in a separate federal lawsuit. POLITICO Pro | Article | DOJ opens investigation into egg companies for price-fixing |
