Italians on average eat 28 kilograms of pasta a year per capita - by far the highest consumption in the world, according to the Association of Pasta Manufacturers of the European Union. -- PHOTO: AFP
MILAN - ITALY'S most popular pasta makers were slapped with a 12.5-million-euro (S$24 million) fine on Thursday after cooking up higher prices for Italians' favourite food, anti-trust authorities said.
Twenty-six companies including industry leader Barilla were fined for raising prices by up to 36 per cent - an increase that led disgruntled consumer groups to threaten a 'pasta strike' in 2007.
The companies 'put into place an agreement restricting competition in order to decide together on increasing the prices for the sale of pasta,' Italy's anti-trust authority alleged in a statement.
The cartel lasted between October 2006 and March 2008, the agency said.
Italians on average eat 28 kilograms of pasta a year per capita - by far the highest consumption in the world, according to the Association of Pasta Manufacturers of the European Union. -- AFP
