Price-fixing scam alleged

THE French consumer affairs minister, Luc Chatel, has questioned why food prices always go up and never come down. He said he’s seen milk prices fall 25% in the past, but has never seen the price of yoghurt fall 25%.

It’s a conundrum for consumers and farmers too but some answers may emerge next year, courtesy of the Office of Fair Trading in Britain.

Their provisional findings are that five big British retailers and four dairies shared commercially sensitive information, and colluded on price-fixing for milk and dairy products. The OFT estimates this cost consumers about €400 million.