Oversight Dem presses meat processors on rising prices

A leading Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform Committee is pressing four major U.S. meat processing companies for information pertaining to the recent rise of prices on beef, pork and chicken products.

In a series of letters sent on Tuesday, subpanel on Economic and Consumer Policy Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) asked Tyson Foods, JBS Foods, National Beef and Seaboard for information and documents explaining their decision to increase the prices of their products despite rising profits.

Krishnamoorthi also asked if there were any ongoing federal and state investigations related to these price increases. 

“While some companies may claim that the high prices feeding these outsized profits are explained by higher input costs, earnings data tell a different story,” Krishnamoorthi wrote in the letter. 

“This demonstrates that higher prices consumers are forced to pay for beef, pork, and poultry, are not an inevitable byproduct of market forces in a competitive marketplace—instead, the evidence suggests that they are a choice companies have made to increase their profits over and above costs,” he continued. 

“I am deeply concerned that meat processing conglomerates may have engaged in predatory business practices, at the expense of consumers, during the pandemic,” he concluded. 

The four companies have until Feb. 8 to send the requested information to the committee.

The White House has also been focusing on the rise of meat prices in America, with President Biden earlier this month unveiling a $1 billion plan to combat the issue.