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Several meatpackers accused of jacking up pork prices

Several well-known meatpackers are accused in a class-action lawsuit of artificially jacking up the price of pork products.

Hormel Foods and Tyson are among the packers that allegedly conspired with info-sharing service Agri-Stats to exchange “detailed, competitively sensitive, and closely guarded non-public information, according to the complaint filed by pork buyers Thursday in a Minnesota federal court.

The buyers claim the scheme boosted prices by more than 50 percent.

Hormel issued a statement denying the allegations, saying they’ve earned a reputation as one of the most respected companies in the food industry.  The statement goes on to say Hormel is confident these allegations are without merit and they plan to vigorously defend this lawsuit.

A Tyson spokesman told Bloomberg the company has not received formal notice of the lawsuit and can’t comment.