 Strauss was cited by the Israel Antitrust Authority as a monopoly in 2004, a status that essentially places the company under government regulation limiting the way it can change the price of its products to protect the consumer and smaller competitors.Strauss and Elite merged in 2004 to become Strauss–Elite, which, in 2005, acquired control of New York-based Sabra food producing company, to operate as a joint-venture with Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo.In December 2005, Strauss–Elite merged its coffee activity with Santa Clara Indústria e Comércio de Alimentos Ltda in Brazil.