Tyson Foods to pay $221 million to settle price-fixing lawsuit

Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. poultry producer, agreed Wednesday to pay $221.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fixing prices on broiler chicken meat. The deal is subject to approval by a federal judge. 

"If the settlement goes forward, it would be the largest yet in a series of lawsuits that accuse a number of poultry processors of anticompetitive behavior," Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network. JBS subsidiary "Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest poultry processor, said Jan. 11 that it would pay $75 million to settle antitrust claims by direct purchasers. The Tyson Foods settlement would resolve claims by direct purchasers, end users, and indirect commercial and institutional users."

The case is "part of a wave of price-fixing cases involving livestock and protein, including chicken, beef, turkey, tuna, salmon, and eggs," Mike Leonard reports for Bloomberg Law. Last week, JBS agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a pork price-fixing lawsuit.