USA: Dairy farmers charged with adding salt and water to increase weight of milk cargoes

A number of dairy farmers are part of an ongoing investigation in the federal courts, conducted by the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation and USDA's Office of Inspector General, on the charge of fraud. The defendants, based in Louisiana and Mississippi, are alleged to have added salt and over 1.8m pounds of water to increase the weight of their milk produce between 1998 and 1999, in a bid to inflate its value when sold to

November 21, 2000

A number of dairy farmers are part of an ongoing investigation in the federal courts, conducted by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation and USDA’s Office of Inspector General, on the charge of fraud.

The defendants, based in Louisiana and Mississippi, are alleged to have added salt and over 1.8m pounds of water to increase the weight of their milk produce between 1998 and 1999, in a bid to inflate its value when sold to Dairy Farmers of America Inc. This meant that DFA incurred losses of US$300,000.