Organic boss has web posts probed

Whole Foods owns stores across the US, Canada and Southern England

The head of US organic foods group Whole Foods Market is being investigated for posting messages on the internet about a rival company.

John Mackey used a pseudonym to make comments about Wild Oats, a firm Whole Foods is hoping to buy in a $565m (£275.5m) deal.

Finance watchdogs are now investigating the posts, while Whole Foods itself has begun an independent inquiry.

Mr Mackey also apologised for his "error" in the wake of the news.

"I sincerely apologize to all Whole Foods Market stakeholders for my error in judgment in anonymously participating on online financial message boards," he said in a statement.

"I am very sorry and I ask our stakeholders to please forgive me."

Last week, Mr Mackey - who helped set up the Texas-based company in 1980 - admitted he was the person behind the postings on Yahoo's financial message board between 1999 and 2006.

While some of his posts - made under the name Rahodeb - praised the company, others claimed it was overvalued and poorly run.

Takeover worries

The identity of "Rahodeb" emerged last week when the online notes were handed to the Federal Trades Commission (FTC) as part of a government examination of the Wild Oats takeover.

The FTC believes a merger of the country's two biggest organic grocers could lead to a monopoly situation.

Whole Foods denies the claim saying it faces plenty of competition from mainstream grocers that sell organic foods.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) contacted Whole Foods on Monday about its investigation into the matter. The grocer said it was cooperating with the inquiry, but declined to comment further.

Experts say the SEC will be looking into whether Mr Mackey's posts broke any rules on disclosure, or whether they could be seen as an attempt to manipulate the share price of Whole Foods or Wild Oats.