Federal regulators have charged two major US food companies, Kraft and Mondelez, for manipulating prices for wheat and wheat futures in a scheme that earned profits of more than $5.4 million.

The civil charges against the companies were announced by the Commodity Futures trading Commission yesterday.

The agency also said that both the companies also used manipulative trading strategies in December 2011 in an attempt to artificially lower wheat prices on the spot market.

Northfield based company, Kraft, is a producer of Oscar Meyer cold cuts, Jell-O pudding and Velveeta cheese that are among other well-known brands.

Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolate and Trident gum are among the brands of Mondelez, in Deerfield, Ill.

The evidence presented in a US lawsuit accusing the company and Mondelez International of manipulating wheat prices includes email conversation between former senior executive at Kraft Foods, chief financial officer and a top procurement director.

Kraft, which spun off its snacks business into Mondelez in 2012, said Mondelez would bear most of the costs of the case. But Mondelez declined to comment on the issue.

The agency filed the manipulation charges partly using power derived from the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. The agency earlier in 2013 used the provision for obtaining a 4100 million settlement against JPMorgan Chase & Co for its 'London Whale' trades.

As per sources familiar with the issue, dry weather across the world was pushing up the wheat prices when Kraft and Mondelez devised a plan to manipulate markets to save millions of dollars by buying the grain.

According to the lawsuit, Kraft was not ready to pay for physical wheat, instead it made a dramatic change to its buying practices. The company entered into contract on the Chicago Board of Trade for $90 million of wheat futures representing a six-month supply.