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Grocery Scales and Packaged Goods

Introduction	Shortweighing, Overweighing, and Overcharging	Scale Requirements
Other Consumer Goods	Shortweighing, Overweighing, and Overcharging	Consumer Tips

Introduction

A package of Tootsie Pops should have about 13 pops in each container. We bought two packages of pops. One package had 13, and the other had 14. Later there was a sale advertising 15% more. The packages said there were about 15 in each bag. We bought 10 bags, and in all 10, there were exactly 15 pops. Yet the packages said "about 15" not 15. This illustrates what is called the Average Package Requirement. According to this requirement, average quantities of contents of packages must equal or be more than the quantity on the label. It also states that the variation of individual package contents from the labeled quantity must not be "unreasonably large." If it is, like in the case of nougat candy manufactured in East Brunswick, NJ, the company will be fined. In this case investigators found 22 candies in boxes advertising 24. The boxes were pulled off the shelf and the company was fined $100. NIST works closely with the food industry and government agencies to ensure that packaged foods have the correct quantity of contents.

A typical Nutrition Label

Shortweighing, Overweighing, & Overcharging

During the 1980s, William "Bill" Korth and his fellow inspectors in Ventura County, California successfully forced Nabisco to discontinue packaging brownies to make it look like consumers were getting more brownies then they actually were. Nabisco was later fined $250,000 for deceptive packaging practices.

An inspector checks a scale for accuracy.

An inspector tests a scale for accuracy.

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The marketplace is on the list of rounds for state inspectors. Photos on virtual loan from the Maryland State Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures Section.

Scale Requirements

Whenever buying or selling any commodities by weight, approved scales must be used. To be approved for commercial use, scales must meet National Conference on Weights and Measures requirements as described in NIST Handbook 44: Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices . When a scale is approved, a state weights and measures inspector applies a dated seal to the scale that is visible to customers.

Scales found inaccurate.

This scale passed the calibration test and received a certification sticker.

Photos on virtual loan from the Maryland State Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures Section.

Other Consumer Goods

Weights and measures inspectors use various measuring devices including tape measures and scales to check the accuracy of the weight, volume, length, and size of any product consumers purchase. The chief inspector, commonly called a sealer, is the head of a state or county weights and measures department. The name comes from putting a seal on scales and other measuring devices to certify their accuracy.

Inspectors use their tape measures to check the length of garden hoses and rolls of aluminum foil and paper towels. They will pour a diet Coke into a measuring cup to see if the measure is correct. They check cereal boxes to find out if Kellogg did in fact put in "two scoops" of raisins as stated on the box.

This inspector is making sure that "a yard is a yard" when it comes to fabric.

Photo on virtual loan from the Maryland State Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures Section.

Consumer Tips