An Interview with John Mackey

"Whole Foods' (Charts, Fortune 500) $5.6 billion in sales make it the largest purveyor of organic and natural food. Its planned acquisition of Wild Oats (Charts) would make it even bigger, but the government wants to halt the deal. The 53-year-old founder and CEO answers your questions about the merger as well as some from Fortune's Matthew Boyle.

Do you feel singled out by the [Federal Trade Commission's] attempt to block the Wild Oats merger? - Name withheld, Orlando

Look at the track record of the Federal Trade Commission [FTC] in the last six years. They have approved 96 oil and gas mergers. They approved Smithfield buying the No. 2 pork producer, giving them around 30% market share in the U.S. [In 1999] they approved Exxon and Mobil merging. It's ludicrous to single [us] out for anticompetitive reasons. [The rules] are obviously being selectively enforced."

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