Asda and Sainsbury’s have agreed to pay multi-million pound fines after admitting fixing the price of milk and cheese.
The supermarkets are among a group of major retailers and dairies to admit colluding over prices and have agreed to pay combined fines as high as ?116 million.
Sainsbury’s share of the penalty is expected to amount to ?26 million after reductions for co-operating with the watchdog are taken into account.
Other firms that have owned up include fellow supermarket Safeway, prior to its takeover by Morrisons, and dairies Robert Wiseman, Dairy Crest and The Cheese Company. The price manipulation occurred during 2002 and 2003, and cost the consumer around ?270 million.
