Justice Dept. Shuts Frito-Lay Probe

The Justice Department brought no charges during a recently closed investigation into whether Frito-Lay Inc. unfairly gobbled up shelf space in grocery stores.

The agency's antitrust division began the investigation in 1996 as a review of possible anticompetitive practices in the snack foods industry. Investigators focused on complaints by smaller competitors that Frito-Lay gained an unfair advantage by paying for exclusive grocery shelf space. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona would not discuss specific targets Tuesday, but confirmed the snack foods investigation was over.

A statement from Frito-Lay said the company was pleased with the outcome. Frito-Lay, a division of Pepsico Inc., maintained it did nothing wrong.