A federal jury in Illinois awarded $17.7 million in damages to several major food manufacturers in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit against top egg producers in the United States, CBS News reported Saturday.
The lawsuit centered on allegations of a conspiracy to artificially inflate egg prices, according to CBS News. The egg suppliers were found guilty of manipulating the domestic egg supply between 2004 and 2008. The plaintiffs saw the initial compensation of $17.7 million tripled to $53 million under federal antitrust regulations. The plaintiffs included Kraft Foods Global, Inc., Kellogg Company, General Mills, Inc., and Nestle USA, Inc.
The defendants, including major players like Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., United Egg Producers, Inc., and Rose Acre Farms, Inc., have been found responsible for employing tactics like limiting chicken numbers and exporting eggs to tighten domestic…
