Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) have announced that they are calling on administration officials to investigate Albertsons and other major grocery chains over alleged misconduct.
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In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, the Democratic leaders asked for an investigation into what they called “predatory practices” that may have violated federal laws.
The lawmakers cited a settlement from last month, in which California district attorneys reached an agreement with Albertsons and its subsidiaries for nearly $4 million after it was found to have “unlawfully charged customers prices higher than their lowest advertised or posted price.”
The grocery chain was also found to have overcharged people through inaccurate weights on labels for products, misleading customers to think the products being sold were marked for the weight of just the items, but instead, they were marked for the weight of the items and their packaging, Democrats shared in their press release.
“Albertsons is one of the largest food retailers in the United States, boasting over 2,200 stores across the country. This settlement covers the 589 Albertsons stores in California, but all U.S. customers should be protected from predatory pricing,” the lawmakers said in their letter.
In their letter, Warren and Schiff are asking Khan and Vilsack to investigate whether other Albertsons stores or other grocery chains have conducted “similar wrongdoing” and, if so, hold them responsible.
“To ensure that no Albertsons stores are overcharging customers for essential groceries, we urge the FTC and U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate whether any other Albertsons stores or other major grocery chains have committed similar wrongdoing and, if necessary, hold the responsible parties accountable,” the letter said.
This is not Warren’s first time seeking oversight of corporations, which she claims “unfairly exploit consumers.” The top Democrat is also calling for more “competition and stronger enforcement of antitrust laws to bring down prices for families.”
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