Tesco Everyday Value Smoked Salmon. (Photo: Stock File)

Shoppers are getting shortchanged when buying salmon

UNITED KINGDOM
Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 15:30 (GMT + 9)

Some customers are getting less than what they paid for: Which? has reported that packs of fish can weigh up to 10 per cent less than what is advertised on the label.

An experiment conducted by consumer rights group Which? that consisted on purchasing 32 packs of smoked salmon from different grocers, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, showed that 25 of the 32 packs – nearly four out of five – were underweight.

The 200g pack of Tesco Everyday Value Smoked Salmon weighed 181.5 g, making it underweight by just over 9 per cent, Which? stated, which may violate Trading Standards rules.

This raises concerns that shoppers could be getting shortchanged on other products as well.

Retailers have to follow specific rules about how much their products are allowed to stray from the weight stated on the pack; these rules include one mandating that no single pack can be underweight by a certain amount, Which? noted.

How big of a margin for error is allowed depends on how big the pack is, as smaller packs are given less margin for error. But products weighing between 100-200g, like most packs of smoked salmon do, get a 9 per cent margin, so the Tesco salmon was just outside it.

Which? then addressed Tesco.

“Our records show that the weight of the products tested conformed to industry standards. It’s not uncommon for some of the oil in smoked salmon to transfer to the packaging while on the shelf,” Tesco responded to the group.

Which? pointed out that other packs it bought for the experiment that were also underweight did not fall outside of the margin for error, such as a 200 g pack that actually weighed 189 g.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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