FILE PHOTO: Fog shrouds the Tyson slaughterhouse in Burbank, Washington December 26, 2013. Picture taken December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ross Courtney/File Photo

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -Tyson Foods agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the largest U.S. meat company of conspiring with rivals to inflate pork prices by limiting supply in the $20 billion U.S. market.

The preliminary class action settlement disclosed on Wednesday is the largest in more than seven years of antitrust litigation by the consumers against pork producers, surpassing Smithfield Foods' $75 million settlement in 2022.

It would boost consumers' overall recovery to $208 million, including settlements with Brazil's JBS, Hormel Foods and other defendants.

Tyson, based in Springdale, Arkansas, is the last publicly traded company to settle.

Its settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis.

Tyson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for the consumers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Triumph Foods and data provider Agri Stats remain defendants.

Dozens of supermarket chains including Kroger, restaurant chains including McDonald's, food producers and food distributors have also sued over pork prices.

Plaintiffs said the alleged conspiracy ran from 2009 to 2018, and was intended to increase the defendants' profits, as well as prices.

Similar litigation alleging price-fixing of beef, chicken and turkey is pending in Minnesota and Chicago federal courts.

The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No. 18-01776.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Marguerita Choy)