Kroger-Albertsons merger will increase costs for shoppers, says FTC chair

An employee stocks food items at a Safeway supermarket, a subsidiary of Albertsons, in Washington DC in October 2022. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

The chairperson of the US’s Federal Trade Commission has warned that the largest-ever planned grocery merger would increase costs for everyday shoppers despite promises to the contrary by those at the center of the $24.6bn deal.

Lina Khan made the remarks on Sunday on CBS’s 60 Minutes while discussing plans for Kroger and Albertsons to merge, something that the FTC is seeking to block.