Exclusive - Brazil prosecutors seek leniency talks with BRF in food fraud probe

FILE PHOTO: Meatpacking company BRF SA's logo, which is one of the biggest food companies in the world, is pictured in Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

PONTA GROSSA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian federal prosecutors probing whether chicken processor BRF SA and certain laboratories colluded to cheat on food safety tests are seeking cooperation from the firms in return for more lenient penalties, a federal prosecutor told Reuters in an interview.

Prosecutors had found "grave irregularities" and would demand that the companies carry out a root-and-branch restructure as part of any leniency deal, federal prosecutor Lyana Helena Joppert Kalluf said last week.