Visually Cheating the Population

[mrbisonm 1,622]

Opened up a bag of Andy Capp Cheddar Fries today (local brand?) and the bag was at best 1/3 full. Stupid, stupid stupid...

 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that realize that we're being abused with false presentations, as far as prices, taxes and volume/weight goes.

 

mrb

[Mr Saturn64 742]

^ Maybe you should try living in the real world.  It can be fun, and definitely better than a finite automaton.

I do. I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The answer to all this angst is simply "caveat emptor" {Let the buyer beware}.  Try reading the package once in a while instead of just looking at the glitzy package. 

 

You bought the sizzle instead of the steak?  Not my problem as a vendor.  I have complied with the requirements of the weights and measures act.

[confused04 14]

Pretty much everything you buy at the supermarket is technically sold by weight.  With the exception of produce and a few other unique items such as baked goods, everything must be labeled with the net weight.  So I never feel cheated really.  Says right on EVERY chips (or crisp) bag, exactly how much you're getting.  Its not saying "1/3" of the bag is actually edible goods, it says 8 or 12 oz (net weight).  Most supermarkets tell you the unit price too ( X cents per oz).

 

Regarding sales tax; the main reason for not including it in the price is what was stated before, the complexity of local and state sales tax laws. But there's also to keep in mind that there are also sales tax exempt transactions for taxable goods (depending on state) where a good or service is normally taxed, but the purchaser is tax exempt, typically a non-profit.  Some states all you to just forgo adding the tax at all.  Other states will allow the tax exempt purchaser to claim it on taxes and an itemized receipt with the exact tax is saved for records purposes.

 

I know that in my metro area that between school districts, counties, municipalities, and various other taxing districts, we had some 700 different sales tax combinations.  Requiring a business to call out the final price would be extremely confusing and inefficient because at some point, they'd rather just not sell the product in high tax areas at all if its just going to eat into the rounded price's margin.

[AkemiAzula 280]

Yes but in a busy supermarket after work who has the time to scrutinise labels and packaging? Most people shop for multiple products and have other things they need to do. It simply isn';t realistic to expect us all to read a novel everytime we go to Sainsburys.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, I have a certain amount of product loyalty, so most of the stuff I buy is from my permanent list, and these have been scrutinized from time to time.  As for being too busy to read the package, you perhaps don't have the labelling laws we have.  There is a standardized panel on every package giving the nutritional values of the contents when it comes to comestibles.  Veggies are another thing, but even they have a kind of rating system as to nutrition.

 

The one thing that is outstanding in our labelling system is whether a given mean product has been machine tenderized but that is coming.  Frankly, I prefer flank steaks and such tougher cuts because I make a lot of stews and they simply have more taste.  Fatty, tender cuts will definitely load you down with dietary cholesterol and other fats.  BTW dietary cholesterol hasn't much to do with your blood cholesterol, all of which is made by your liver.  The main thing about cooking tougher meats is starting with a good sear, then long, slow cooking to break down the connective tissue.

[AkemiAzula 280]

The only meat I afford is ham slices for sandwiches and fish and chips once a week. But I cycle to work each week day. 

 

The ham slices are in plastic wrapping so you can easily see how little you are getting. Ten slices for 65 p... Daylight robbery.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The solution to the ham problem is to purchase a small or a half of a picnic ham.  No bones.  The next expense is a home slicer, and these do not cost the earth either.  Of course, if you have a nice slicing knife with a full length guide such as mine, you can do without the power slicer.  Ham is a cured meat and if kept carefully wrapped under refrigeration, you'll probably get to eat the whole thing.

 

You can also purchase deli meats, unsliced, in a piece as large as you like, but this tends to be expensive.  A good slicer works on most semi-hard cheeses like cheddar and Gouda as well. 

 

For slicing things like tomatoes and other veggies you might want to invest in a mandoline slicing system.  I just got a stainless steel top-of-the-line chef's version for $138 Cdn.  There are versions much less costly than that.

 

If you expect to do much cooking for yourself, select only the best tools and save up to get them.  There is nothing like a chef quality utility knife.  Needs to be kept sharp as a razor or you are likely to cut yourself.  And remember, the forward stroke is the cutting stroke.

 

Oh, and get a good cookbook.  I can't recommend one because I don't know current UK titles.  If nothing else the definitions and techniques section in such a book is worth the price.  Some of the recipes are excellent and some you won't make more than once.  Before I downsized I had a six-foot shelf of cooking literature.  Now I am down to one lonely tome.

 

EDIT:  Oops.  I would think that you might have a problem with the definition of ham.  When last I was in London a ham sandwich contained what I would call "sliced cottage roll".  This is a pickled hunk of pork rolled into some semblance of a roast then boiled.  Over here, a picnic ham is a boneless roll of cured hind leg pork which does not need cooking, but can be eaten as delivered.  It is already cooked in the curing process.

  Edited June 22, 2013 by A Nonny Moose  

[AkemiAzula 280]

Ham is pig meat of an undecipherable origin here. 'Reformed'... i.e water-added to it. It's circular and you'd get a gold medal for guessing where it came from. 

 

I also don't have a fridge as my grandfather uses the kitchen as a bathroom and it's also quite dirty so I tend to buy stuff that doesn't need to be kept.

 

However back in Wollongong where I did have a fridge I used to buy fruit from Coles and salads. 

 

Anyway back on topic I suppose given that the future of grocery shopping seems to be online that that would grant the amount of time necessary to scan labelling or info on products in the comfort of our homes. When you aren't surrounded by ten people with trolleys all going in different directions and awful radio music playing (to keep down the number of shoppers?) and staff asking if you'd like assistance when you buy the same stuff every day...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, it sounds like you live in super market hell.  Up here you are hard pressed to find a clerk when you want one.  I shop on Tuesday mornings around 0900 when they are all out there busily restocking shelves and doing cycle-counts.  That way, I can usually corral someone if I need assistance.  The aisles are sometimes an obstacle course with stock carts all over the place, but I can get out of there with a week's groceries in something like 45 minutes. 

 

And yes, if I buy a new product, I do read the damned package.  There is too much packaging these days.

[AkemiAzula 280]

It's like that at Asda they do the restocking all day there I think. Certainly you encounter a lot of trolley carts and shop employees in the aisles as much if not more so than customers.

 

Well in a supermarket if you stand around reading a package you become one of the 'non-movers', and I tend to prefer not to turn into my own enemy where possible. There is no order or logic to the movements of shoppers... Every aisle is like Crown St Mall was in the Gong... People going every way without any apparent reason for so doing... I only buy a few items

[timmie 988]

Yikes, Asda. I know there are supermarkets in Britain that are open 24/24, because they thought 'since we have people working in the supermarket at night, we can as well let customers buy stuff'. I thought it was Tesco that asked its customers to please not go to the supermarket wearing pajama's

[AkemiAzula 280]

Asda closes at midnight at the local one and opens at six. I used to walk there at six am to get groceries but now i just go to sainsburys cos its closer