Bioproducts Incorporated et.al.

A $850,000 settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit filed against Bioproducts Incorporated, Chinook Group, Ltd., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc., and ConAgra Foods, Inc. The antitrust suit was filed against forty vitamin producers, ten of which settled for $22 million dollars last year. The suit alleged that the companies had engaged in a ten-year conspiracy to fix prices and allocate markets for their products. All of the settlement funds, including the previous $22 million dollar settlement, will go to Massachusetts's charities to fund food and nutrition programs. (Jun-10-03)