• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, December 21, 2007 11:45 AM

Last month, Canadian regulators began an investigation into allegations that the Canadian divisions of Hershey, Cadbury Schweppes, Mars and Nestlé fixed prices. Now, antitrust officials at the U.S. Justice Dept. have begun making inquiries, representatives at two chocolate makers said yesterday. It isn't clear precisely what the feds are looking into or whether the preliminary inquiry will become a formal criminal investigation.

Price fixing can be a serious offense, leading to heavy fines and, in some cases, jail terms for executives. While antitrust enforcement has eased generally in recent years, the Bush administration has aggressively prosecuted price fixing.

Mars spokeswoman Alice Nathanson says the company has been contacted by the Justice Department's antitrust division "regarding their inquiry concerning pricing practices in the U.S. chocolate confectionery industry" and will cooperate fully. Nestlé spokeswoman Laurie MacDonald also says the company plans to cooperate fully. Cadbury would neither confirm not deny being contacted; Hershey had not comment,

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