Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., want a greater government investigatory focus on the nation's egg producers.
The senators sent a letter to the Department of Justice thanking DOJ for opening an investigation in January into potential price gouging, but they also pressed the government to take action.
They've asked DOJ investigators to look closely at "whether a 'precipitous drop' in egg prices just 'days' after reports of the investigation broke suggests that egg producers had conspired to artificially inflate prices."
The senators assert that the five largest egg producers in the U.S. are in a position to manipulate the market to take advantage of the cover that may be provided by the bird flu outbreak. The outbreak is considered a major factor in the loss of egg-laying chickens and high prices.
The senators reminded the DOJ, "Large egg producers and trade associations have previously been found liable for price fixing."
Warren joined several federal lawmakers who wrote to President Donald Trump a week after his inauguration in January, telling Trump: "Egg producers and grocery stores may leverage the current avian flu outbreak as an opportunity to further constrain supply or hike up egg prices to increase profits."
The Agriculture Department's Friday report on wholesale egg prices showed the national average going up a few cents to $3.36 per dozen. In the California market, the price dropped 17 cents to $4.93 per dozen.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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