FTC vs Whole Foods ... it's Personal?

There was an interesting article in the NY Times the other day about the fight between FTC and Whole Foods over the company's Wild Oats merger. One theory argued is the effort from FTC is wasted because other conventional grocery chains, including Safeway, Target and WalMart, have expanded their organic inventories, and perhaps the agency is backed into a corner after picking a fight with the largest natural foods retailer. FTC denies its a war of personalities, but I offer John Mackey's actions leading up to this merger and legal battle did not help his company's cause.

Still, new reports reveal eight influential senators on the Judiciary Committee, including natural products industry supporter Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have sent a letter to FTC expressing serious concern over the agency's hasty changes to how it deals with mergers, right at the time it needed to deal with Whole Foods-Wild Oats. The senators chastise FTC for creating an unfair process for investigating mergers, including circumventing administrative judicial review of commissioner decisions on mergers. Word from inside the judicial committee is the letter represents concerns that have been floating around the antitrust community for some time.