The Federal Trade Commission — joined by nine states — has announced plans to sue to block Kroger’s takeover of grocery chain rival Albertsons.

Kroger, which already has chains including Fred Meyer, Ralphs and King Soopers, says the merger with Albertsons, the owner of Safeway, Acme and Tom Thumb, is needed to stay competitive with Walmart and Amazon, whose dominance in the grocery market has grown in recent years.

But the FTC, the nine states, Washington and Colorado — which already had legal action pending — believe this will push up grocery bills for many Americans.

Roben Farzad, host of public radio’s “Full Disclosure,” joins host Scott Tong to unpack the latest.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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