The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a probe into U.S. egg producers, over claims that companies have colluded to inflate costs to record levels.

ABC News reports that the DOJ's probe will focus on whether companies have shared data on supply, and then used that information to hold back stock and artificially drive up prices at grocery stores. The investigation will be spearheaded by the department's antitrust division, and isn't guaranteed to end with any legal action against producers.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a dozen eggs rose by 53% year-over-year in January 2025, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture projecting another 20% bump by the end of the year. U.S. farms have also been battling an outbreak of bird flu since 2022, which escalated in late 2024 after migratory geese spread the disease to egg-laying flocks on the East Coast. Since then, farms have been forced to cull millions of chickens to stem the spread of the highly infectious strain. 

Read More: A Lesson in Egg-Onomics — Tracing the Trouble with U.S. Egg Prices

An analysis from nonprofit organization Food and Water Watch (FWW) asserted that while avian flu has played a role in rising egg prices, producers should share a portion of the blame as well. In some regions, FWW found that prices were even rising before the latest strain had affected poultry flocks.

“Powerful corporations that control every step of the supply chain — from breeding hens to hatching eggs to processing and distributing eggs — are making windfall profits off this crisis, raising their prices above and beyond what is necessary to cover any rising costs," the report reads. 

FWW also pointed out that in 2023, Cal-Maine — one of the country's largest egg producers — was fined $53 million for a price-fixing scheme, where the company sought to artificially raise prices by reducing its supply of eggs by exporting them to other countries, and limiting the number of egg-laying hens in its flocks. 

In a statement to ABC News, American Egg Board CEO Emily Metz labeled the idea that producers today are gouging customers as a "misreading of facts and reality."

"Eggs are subject to the economic laws of supply and demand," she said. "The tight egg supply caused by avian influenza, coupled with 23 consecutive months of high sales volume, has created a perfect storm in egg markets."