Quantities on supermarket packaging should be treated with caution. Apparently an Aldi customer was unaware of this: she was informed on Facebook after an accusation against the discounter.
Munich – Especially after Christmas, looking at the scales can cause a little shock. Because some pounds pile up on your hips during the holidays, from too much holiday feasting, and on top of that, much less exercise than usual.
For another reason, a scale spoiled an Aldi customer’s mood shortly after New Year’s. Because the woman would have hoped for something more. After all, it wasn’t her own weight, but that of the beef goulash she just bought at the discount store. On the plastic packaging it was indicated 400 grams, when she weighed the Thermomix she only showed 380 grams.
Aldi customer smells deceptive packaging: ‘It can’t be true’
The customer captured both pieces of information in a photo and searched Facebook to match with Aldi. “I am a loyal customer of Aldi, but since my Thermomix weighs everything I cook, I keep coming across misleading packaging,” she scolded: “It can’t be true that you buy 400 grams of the best organic beef goulash, but there are only 380 grams in it. I find it really amazing.
The company responded with a detailed response, saying suppliers were required to “comply with legal requirements for fill levels and fill level labeling.” Aldi continues: “For this reason, they carry out regular weight checks as part of their quality assurance. These results are recorded and statistically evaluated. The checkweighers used are monitored by the calibration office.
At the same time, the discounter admits that “due to natural fluctuations” small deviations are possible. “In such cases, you can easily exchange the product in your branch or contact our customer service,” Aldi shows ways out of the weight dilemma.
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Aldi customer reprimanded on Facebook: “Introducing a school subject for reflection”
Some other users commented on the post with much less understanding. “Water and the like? I hope you can find the solution yourself,” one says of the liquid in the meat. Another concludes: “Perhaps we should introduce a subject in school for thinking.”
Another Facebook user comments: “I hope you know that the Thermomix scale has a tolerance of +/- 30 grams. Vorwerk also writes on their homepage. And you certainly haven’t officially checked it either. But blame it first to the others”.
Aldi customer complains about weight – minus deviations are allowed for prepackaged items
So the Aldi customer could still learn a lot and benefit from his reprimanding assignment. Incidentally, according to the prepackaging ordinance, the actual filling quantity of a prepackaged product can actually deviate slightly from the nominal filling quantity indicated on the packaging. A negative deviation of three percent is allowed for 300-500 grams and twelve grams for 400 grams.
The average value principle also applies: According to this, two percent of the packs in a batch can fall below the minimum permissible value by up to twice the permissible quantity – and this at the time of production. The only requirement is that this is compensated by other parcels with a higher weight. The mean must therefore be correct.
The consumer advice center criticizes it, which instead calls for the introduction of a minimum quantity principle. According to this, “each package must contain at least what is written on it”. In this context, the consumer center writes that “thanks to highly developed technology and sophisticated filling systems, it should now be possible for manufacturers of prepackaged products to fill their products with small fluctuations.” (mg)
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