New York Sues Firms Over Sorbate Pricing

CHEMICALS

*

Eastman Chemical Co., Aventis and eight other companies conspired for 17 years to fix the price of sorbates, a widely used food preservative, New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said in a lawsuit.

Spitzer has accused the chemical companies of unlawfully restraining competition through meetings from 1979 to 1997 at which they set the price of sorbates on the global market and allocated market share.

Five companies have pleaded guilty to criminal charges brought by the Justice Department and have paid fines of $132 million.