McDonald's sues several meat packing companies, claims they colluded to inflate beef prices

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McDonald's is suing multiple meat companies on accusations they colluded to inflate the price of beef specifically.

The fast food giant filed a federal complaint Friday against Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef Packing Company, as well as their subsidiaries, alleging the companies engaged in a price-fixing scheme for beef.

The meat companies are accused of anticompetitive measures, including collectively limiting supply to raise prices and charging «illegally inflated» amounts, according to The Associated Press.

The alleged collusion led the beef market to become «a monopoly in which direct purchasers were forced to buy at prices dictated by [the meat packers],» the lawsuit says, adding that the injury it has suffered as one of the buyers is what «antitrust laws were designed to prevent.»

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McDonald's is suing multiple meat companies on accusations they colluded to inflate the price of beef specifically. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)

McDonald's claims that the meat packers began colluding at least as early as January 2015, and that the practice is ongoing. The suit says the meat companies violated a federal antitrust law called the Sherman Act.

The companies have previously faced federal probes and allegations of price fixing.

Various lawsuits have been filed over the years by grocery stores, ranchers, restaurants and wholesalers. Some litigation is still pending, but meat packers and processors have previously settled cases.

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A McDonald's McDouble cheeseburger,