IS THE FOOD YOU'RE BUYING WORTH ITS' WEIGHT??
When you're shopping for groceries, chances are you don't bring a scale with you. But an ABC2 News Investigation found it might be handy. Joce Sterman explains why the stuff you buy isn't always worth the weight.
As shoppers, we do all we can to save a buck. We hunt out deals and clip coupons, knowing every penny counts. But an ABC2 news investigation found a common mistake that could mean your groceries aren't worth their weight. Mike Frailer is the manager of the state's Weights and Measures section. He tells ABC2, "It doesn't happen all the time but it does happen on occasion."
Frailer’s team of 18 inspectors has a heavy task. In addition to inspecting gas pumps, store scanners and scales, they check every grocery store in Maryland, making sure you get what you pay for. It's called a package inspection. Frailer explains, "Anything that's packaged at the store level is what they look at and it could be anything."
So from pork chops to pieces of fruit, it's up to the inspectors to make sure the weight on the label matches the weight that's inside. And a difference on the scale means someone's not getting their money's worth. Frailer says, “As a store owner, you don't want to give someone two pounds worth of something and only charge them for one pound. On the same token, as a customer you don't want to buy two pounds and only get one pound."
And when that happens, the state calls it “short weight”. If inspectors find a lot of items on a store's shelves are light, they could be sent a violation report. We found a lot of those. We pulled two years worth of inspection reports for 215 stores in Baltimore City as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Harford counties.
We found 56 stores, about a quarter of the ones we checked, had received at least one violation in that time. Giant had the most, with 6 stores sent violation reports over the last two years. Safeway was second with six stores. Five Weis stores also came up short.
But Frailer is quick to note it’s a common issue. He says, “People do make mistakes on occasion. We do understand mistakes are made." That's why the violation report is like a warning, putting the store on notice. If the problems continue, the stores could end up in a field hearing, where the state makes sure stores understand the rules. 12 of the stores we checked, about five percent, had those hearings.
The state also has the option to issue a fine if a store's problems continue or if they're extremely short during any one inspection. Frailer says, "When a civil penalty is issued, that's a pretty serious thing as far as we're concerned." Only four out of the 215 stores we checked were hit with civil penalties in the last two years, charged hundreds of dollars for potentially shorting customers.
In 2008, a now defunct Weis in Glen Burnie was fined $750. The Save-a-Lot on Ritchie Highway in Baltimore got a $500 civil penalty that same year. In 2009, the Fresh World/All Green Market in Anne Arundel County was given a $500 fine. And the Tropical Supermarket in Baltimore had to pay $250, a fine assessed after a single inspection.
Those stores and the others we mentioned tell us they're committed to accuracy. They tell us they work closely with regulators to fix any isolated errors and maintain quality control so you get exactly what you pay for. It’s an effort they make to ensure you don’t get a raw deal.
SAVE-A-LOT STATEMENT (Responding to civil penalty in 2008):“We are aware of the situation and worked closely with local, state and federal regulating bodies to correct this occurrence. At Save-A-Lot, the satisfaction of our customers is a top priority. Save-A-Lot complies with all local, state and federal regulations regarding weights and measures and requires our supplier partners to do the same. In addition, we have a comprehensive food safety and quality assurance structure in place throughout the company to ensure that we’re protecting the health, safety and satisfaction of our customers. Stores are inspected regularly for compliance with the numerous federal and state requirements.”
WEIS STATEMENT (Responding to civil penalty in 2008 and additional violation reports:
“We had some mislabeling problems at Store 146 that we failed to correct after three visits -- the store was generating the wrong product labels for fresh products -- and these labels listed the wrong quantities. As a result of these inadvertent mistakes, this store was fined. We regret not correcting this problem in timely fashion and note the problem was eventually fixed and that there was no repeat of this mistake. We work closely with Md's Bureau of Weights and Measures -- and make a good faith effort to be in compliance with all their regulations. As you note this was the only time we've had a problem like this in our Baltimore metro stores and I do not believe we have this issue in any of our other stores in Maryland (we operate 26).”
GIANT FOOD STATEMENT (Responding to violation reports):“Giant Food is committed to providing the best possible service and value. We train all our store associates as to which containers and materials to use with prepared or fresh products to ensure that customers pay only for the product weight. We strive for 100% accuracy with weight labeling, and our quality assurance team works with all our stores to train associates and ensure compliance. When errors occur, we take immediate steps to correct the situation, including retraining of associates as necessary.”
SAFEWAY STATEMENT (Responding to violation reports):
“Safeway is committed to providing customers with high quality, wholesome products that meet or exceed regulatory requirements. A daily random net weight and tare verification is conducted on 15 to 20 samples (depending on number of departments in a store) of in-store produced products. Employees take immediate corrective actions when products do not meet Safeway standards or the minimum regulatory requirements. In addition to the internal on-going and daily checks, we use an independent third party company to perform random net weight and tare verification of in-store produced products in all Safeway stores. Corrective and preventive actions are taken when products do not meet Safeway standards or minimum regulatory requirements. When net weight and tare issues are identified with third-party produced products, we work with the manufacturer/vendor/supplier to correct these issues and implement appropriate preventive programs.”
SHOPPERS FOOD & PHARMACY STATEMENT (Responding to violation reports):
“At Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, the satisfaction of our customers is a top priority. Shoppers is committed to compliance with all local, state and federal regulations and has appointed an associate to conduct store audits to assure that our customers get everything they pay for when shopping in our stores. Our in-house auditor, who was trained by a state weights and measures inspector, performs daily checks across all store departments to insure compliance, reports results back to the Shoppers corporate office, and initiates a series of improvement measures when needed.”
SHOP RITE/KLEIN’S STATEMENT (Responding to violation reports):
“At ShopRite, our stores weigh and package thousands of items daily and we are committed to accuracy. Unfortunately, on the rare occasion that mistakes do occur they are generally attributed to human error. When an error is brought to our attention, we take steps to correct it, including training our associates on proper procedures.”
