Lawsuits accuse chicken industry of price fixing

The $29 billion industry that churns out 90 percent of America’s chickens has engaged in a price-fixing scheme for years, according to the first of a half-dozen lawsuits filed in Chicago federal court last month.  And that artificial premium has been passed on to consumers, who have been paying 50 percent more for that supermarket rotisserie bird, the lawsuits claim. While producers have been accused of rigging the market before, this litigation may be the largest effort yet to bring such practices to light. Last year, U.S. producers raised 8.69 billion broilers weighing 53.4 billion pounds, according to the Department of Agriculture. Exports are expected to reach a record 10.8 million tons in 2016, according to another USDA report. Brazil and the U.S. account for two-thirds of the world’s broiler supply.  Read More