NEWARK, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram's latest lawsuits target two retail giants, Target and Wal-Mart, alleging that they sold expired infant formula.

Milgram announced Thursday that her office is claiming violations of prior agreements on the parts of the companies, as well as Drug Fair. Those companies had paid civil penalties to settle previous allegations.

"These companies violated their previous settlements with the state and violated the trust of consumers once again," Milgram said. "I have no tolerance for repeat violators and neither should consumers."

Rite Aid and Duane Reade recently settled similar allegations, but Milgram said the other three haven't learned their lessons.

The investigation also showed that the prices of some back-to-school items did not match what was advertised. Binders, calculators and printers advertised in flyers were not in stock.

"Consumers are being squeezed in this era of $4 a gallon gasoline and $4 a gallon milk," said David Szuchman, Consumer Affairs Director. "Consumers who based their back-to-school shopping on advertisements and then found that the items either weren't in stock, or scanned at a higher than listed price, were defrauded."

The complaints were filed in state Superior Court in Hudson and Union counties. Target and Wal-Mart are also alleged to have violated the state's Bicycle Safety Act by not having notice of the state's helmet law posted for customers.

Each violation of the prior consent orders carry a civil penalty of up to $20,000. A list of the alleged violations can be found here.

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.