The United States Department of Agriculture is investigating the American Egg Board, a checkoff organization that advocates for the egg industry, in the wake of allegations that it waged a campaign against egg-free mayo company Hampton Creek.
Internal American Egg Board emails, released in the wake of a FOIA request due to the organization’s status as a quasi-governmental body, showed leaders of the Board, including its president and CEO Joanne Ivy, conspiring to sink the food start-up. Board leaders allegedly tried to stop the sale of Just Mayo in Whole Foods stores and looked through the company’s patents for flaws, the Guardian reported. At one point, the executive vice president of the Board jokingly offered “to contact some of my old buddies in Brooklyn to pay Mr Tetrick a visit.” (Josh Tetrick is the CEO of Hampton Creek.)