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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST EGG COMPANIES
Apr. 22, 2026
by Ryan Hanrahan, University of Illinois' FarmDoc project
Urbana, IL -- The Wall Street Journal's Dave Michaels and Patrick Thomas reported in a different article that "the Justice Department is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against some of the country's biggest egg producers over allegations they coordinated pricing through an information service that benchmarks prices for the industry, according to people familiar with the matter."
"The civil lawsuit would target major producers including Cal-Maine Foods and Versova, which significantly hiked egg prices in 2024 and 2025 due to a supply shortage attributed to avian flu," Michaels and Thomas reported. "The competing producers share pricing information with Expana, a service that uses sales data to compile a benchmark price used by the producers."
"An egg case, which could be filed as soon as next month, would show the Trump administration's eagerness to focus its antitrust powers on food prices, even as it warms to dealmaking in other industries and looks to settle major cases inherited from the Biden administration," Michaels and Thomas reported. "The Justice Department is separately investigating the markets for beef, fertilizer and crop seeds."
"No final decision has been made on the egg case. The department and the egg producers could reach a settlement that avoids litigation, the people said," according to Michaels and Thomas' reporting. "The large egg companies declined to comment on the possible lawsuit. They have argued the price changes are a classic case of supply and demand, where limited supply and high demand lead to higher prices."
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