NEW YORK — Fast-food behemoth McDonald’s is suing four major meat producers, accusing them of artificially inflating the costs of beef, ports say.
Just Food reports the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New York says Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods and National Beef Packing Co. colluded to limit beef supplies and charge “illegally inflated” amounts. The lawsuit accuses of the companies of colluding since “at least” January 2015.
The suit argues the companies’ actions violate the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law.
“Only colluding meatpackers would expect to benefit by reducing their prices and purchases of slaughtered cattle because they would know that their conspiracy would shield them from the dynamics of a competitive marketplace,” the lawsuit says, according to Reuters.
The companies named in the lawsuit have not responded to requests for comment, reports say. But the Associated Press reports this is not the first time the companies have faced federal probes and allegations of price fixing.
Grocery stores, ranchers, restaurants and wholesalers have filed multiple lawsuits over the past several years, the AP reports. In 2022, JBS agreed to a $52.5 million settlement in a similar beef price-fixing lawsuit. Tyson agreed to pay $221.5 million in 2021, after facing class-action claims that alleged purposely inflated chicken prices.
The companies admitted no wrongdoing in the settlements, the AP reports. Several other lawsuits are still pending.
McDonald’s is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an end to the alleged price-fixing, Reuters reports.
