Consumers of milk, cheese and other dairy products filed a class action lawsuit on Monday, September 26 alleging that dairy companies and trade groups have been involved in a price-fixing scheme that inflated the price of milk. The defendants include the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, and the Land O’Lakes company, all members of Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) which formed in 2003 as “a voluntary, producer-funded national program developed by the National Milk Producers Federation, to strengthen and stabilize milk prices.”
Research done by the legal department of nonprofit organization Compassion over Killing, revealed that more than 500,000 young cows were slaughtered between 2003 and 2010 under the CWT’s “dairy herd retirement” program in an effort to reduce the supply of milk and inflate prices. Compassion over Killing alleges that the possibly illegal price-fixing scheme is “killing cows, cheating consumers and lining the pockets of agribusiness giants.” Based on economic analysis performed by the CWT itself, the efforts have produced $9.5 billion in additional revenue for the dairy industry.
The law firm representing the plaintiffs, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLP is interested in speaking to consumers who purchased milk or milk products from 2004 to the present. Visit their website for more information.
Virginia Messina is a dietitian specializing in vegan nutrition. Her new book is Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-based Diet. Learn more about vegan nutrition by reading her blog TheVeganRD, or by following her twitter.
Comments