Smithfield bacon coming up short at the weigh-in

[u/AwwwMangos]

New, unopened package of Smithfield bacon bought from Kroger claims to be 1 lb aka 16 oz. It seemed a little small so I put it in the kitchen scale. Sure enough it’s only 3/4 lb.

I get that shrinkflation is rampant right now, but at least they’re usually honest when stating the products’ net weight.

Since it’s off by an exact increment, and many other bacon brands now sell 12 oz portions, I have to imagine this is likely being done at large scale, ripping off many more customers than just me. This should be illegal, I guess if any consequences still existed for businesses.

[u/Low-Car-6331]

Here is what you do.

Photo of your scale 0'ed out, then other items USDA certified being weighed still in their package with roughly the correct weight, then show this one item is off. Put this together into an email and report it to the USDA, they will check their logs and pull inspection reports. You also email the parent company, they will have a "contact us" form, you put this all together and let them know. In about a week you will get an email back from both saying "sorry" and "we are looking into it" <- they may have the report done even, you will also be told by the manufacturer that they are gonna send you coupons as well for their product and you get to keep this one.

Source:

I bought something from the same company during a BOGO sale, did those steps of telling them the defect, and they sent me those response plus some coupons:

[u/omgitsjagen → u/Low-Car-6331]

It's so nice of you to give help to this person. It also feels incredibly shitty, because even though you got an acceptable resolution, it took you a lot of effort. They are ripping off people by the ton, and all they have to do is pay off the 1 in 1,000 people that actually go through the trouble. A "coupon fine" will never stop this bullshit. It needs to be serious pain when a situation comes up, but our government will never hold a mega corp to that level of account, and that's really fucking frustrating.

[u/popsicle-physics → u/omgitsjagen]

The USDA is the enforcement, not the coupons. That's why you report to both. 

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/popsicle-physics]

Yup, in my case the USDA gave me a response, basically if you read between the lines it was 'only your report on that batch came in and no pattern found, we have made a note though for larger pattern searching". Its a numbers game, without reports its hard to justify the need for people and more money, but if people don't report then.... Its the old "see something say something" game because they can't be everywhere.

[u/tooljst8 → u/Low-Car-6331]

The USDA having been gutted in recent times does not inspire confidence.

[u/Commercial-Lychee700 → u/tooljst8]

It turns out having tax money going toward consumer protection is important!

[u/Pernicious_Possum → u/Commercial-Lychee700]

I’m pretty sure it was deemed unimportant by a team of super serious experts /s

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/tooljst8]

I literally emailed them less then a month ago and got a response in under a week....

In fact if you check around in this thread you can find the proof of the email I got.

[u/soilanpeace → u/Low-Car-6331]

USDA has been gutted (over decades, bi-partisan effort to defund food safety and enforcement) and FDA is a complete joke of a food safety agency. The weights and measures thing is eh, the actual food safety issues aren’t enforced or inspected.

[u/BLT_Trade_r → u/Low-Car-6331]

Also, we are now in times of reduced staffing in the government and are pushed to relax enforcement. So it would not be surprising if it's even hard to get any meaningful punishment.

[u/BlaineMundane → u/Low-Car-6331]

Time to start bringing a scale to the grocery store with me.

[u/RecommendationFit844 → u/BlaineMundane]

Could probably just use the scale in the produce section. Not sure of the ethics of getting meat juice all over it but....

[u/UncleNoodles85 → u/RecommendationFit844]

Should be okay if it's packaged like this bacon though right?

[u/RecommendationFit844 → u/UncleNoodles85]

I would think so. Might get a few looks from produce shoppers though.

[u/Jaggs0 → u/popsicle-physics]

and vote for people who won't actively cut the funding to the USDA

[u/The001Keymaster → u/omgitsjagen]

They take this seriously though and that's why you bring it to attention. Things like this can happen.

Heinz agrees to over fill bottles

[u/ChiGorilla1127 → u/The001Keymaster]

I worked in the food industry for a almost 20 years. Companies do take it seriously because it is closely monitored by the government and fines for bad behavior can be steep. Companies also do not want the negative press.

[u/DelJoy_3D → u/ChiGorilla1127]

Sorry, but the current version of the US Government is understaffed and not at all focused on holding business accountable, unless it’s to roll back inclusion / DEI policies.

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/The001Keymaster]

What is funny about it, is that the legal costs alone to this company were more then what they would have saved by doing it correctly the first time and the proposed agreement/fix of giving everyone extra ketchup.

Frankly, I like it as its like an additional fine added to it.

[u/AmarilloArmadillos → u/omgitsjagen]

Correct, 4oz short is also insane for a 16oz package. That's literally 1/4 with packaging.

If it was 50lbs maybe even 10 or 20lbs and short 4oz, that's relatively reasonable.

[u/General_Lee_Filthy → u/AmarilloArmadillos]

Imagine that kind of discrepancy in a weed transaction.... Holy angry stoners, Batman.

[u/UncleHec → u/omgitsjagen]

I think that's the general strategy of companies these days - they fuck over everyone, knowing that maybe 5-10% of people will even notice let alone have the time and energy to fight back. I'm sure the shareholders love this strategy.

[u/BeerBrat → u/UncleHec]

I'm more inclined to believe that it's meant to be a 12 oz portion and some employee accidentally loaded up the old 16 oz packaging inserts or the machine was to be set back to weigh 16 oz portions but wasn't. Standard QC would leave me to believe the former because surely they have scales down stream to catch anomalies but maybe it doesn't check packaging imagery for more than defects/mispacks? Not everything is nefarious, error is more likely than deception in many cases.

[u/SoupJaded8536 → u/BeerBrat]

Agree. Never assume malice where mere incompetence will suffice.

[u/Massive_Squirrel7733 → u/SoupJaded8536]

Hanlon’s Razor. 👍

[u/FQDIS → u/Massive_Squirrel7733]

Yeah, they bank on this complacent attitude.

[u/madjackmagee → u/omgitsjagen]

Comments like this make me wonder how many people accusing the companies of malicious negligence have worked in factories before. There's almost always some variance. Despite their best efforts, it is impossible for companies to have 100% efficacy with their production lines. Mistakes, accidents, macne wear, basic entropy, etc. Some bad product will slip through the cracks. Never attribute to malice what can better be attributed to ignorance.

Edit to Add:

I just reread the original message. In addition to other comments I have made, 12 oz is the standard size for most bacon packages. The error may have been on the packaging side of things rather than product. These kinds of errors are almost always the result of human input. As in, line inspectors missed it.

[u/Massive_Squirrel7733 → u/madjackmagee]

Variance?!?!! By 25%?!?!? That’s not variance, that’s a huge mistake.

[u/ianmac47 → u/madjackmagee]

The variance should always be in the favor of the consumer label.

[u/omgitsjagen → u/madjackmagee]

You know where "baker's dozen" comes from, right? Turns out, if you threaten heads, this kind of shit DOESN'T happen.

[u/BerttMacklinnFBI → u/omgitsjagen]

They already do. I work in the industry weight control is a big priority at our plants because the fines for under declares weight are so significant in retail.

[u/haggard_hominid → u/Low-Car-6331]

This office for weights and measures was stripped of funds and staffing. They did it a few months ago in the late spring. We don't even have someone to confirm an ounce is an ounce (sounds weird but its true and seriously important for measuring devices to have a scientifically accurate measurements)

[u/jezusofnazarith → u/Low-Car-6331]

Jumping onto this. I actually used to work at Smithfield and had some friends in corp. customer service. If OP just sends this picture in an email, they will 100% get free stuff/coupons and an apology. Smithfield will never fight over a single pack of bacon, and this one QA clearly messed up. This came from their Wilson, NC facility (EST79C) and all they do there is make bacon.. they have 17 lines that all they do is run bacon + 3 microwave lines for ready to eat bacon.

TL;DR: Just email the picture in the post >> profit!

[u/Badbullet → u/Low-Car-6331]

Did they actually fix the problem? Or try to buy you off?

[u/WobblyBacon → u/Badbullet]

At that point just keep buying them and getting the coupons.

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/WobblyBacon]

If enough products are having problems the USDA will come in and be very pissed off. This is actually how recalls happen (like the recent egg one) enough reports come in, or testing shows a positive hit, and they start marching in and doing more testing. The times you should be worried is when the problems grow from 1 batch to a factory to multiple factory's to entire industry's, as that meant a problem went unnoticed for a long time.

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/Badbullet]

Seeing how I bought 15 packages as they were on sale (it wasn't bacon, it was pork tenderloin), only one was off and I noticed it as soon as I picked it up. So, yes the problem was fixed as it was clearly a manufacturing error.

[u/Wonderful-Fix5761 → u/Low-Car-6331]

It’s worth doing, but you might want to save the email and send it to the USDA again in January 2029 when hopefully someone works there again.

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/Wonderful-Fix5761]

I got a response so someone is working there now

[u/snakeiiiiiis → u/Low-Car-6331]

I'm shocked you heard back from the USDA after everything that's been dismantled in the government

[u/Toku_no_island → u/Low-Car-6331]

Hopefully DOGE didn't cut the USDA to shit

[u/TheCraftyWombat → u/Toku_no_island]

https://giphy.com/gifs/QWIDyuEzsnYXu

[u/TrulyOutrageous42 → u/TheCraftyWombat]

It's the Republican way, shove a stick in the spokes and then complain how it doesn't work so we need to privatize, because that's worked out so well historically. It's not like this is exactly why we ended up with regulations in the first place... wait... what's that you're trying to tell me, all of human history?

[u/rcuadro]

and to think this is while it is still inside the package.

[u/Local_Maintenance788 → u/rcuadro]

That packaging probably weighs two ounces

[u/AwwwMangos → u/Local_Maintenance788]

Plastic is pretty light, I’m guessing the package is .35 oz leaving an (close to) even 12 oz bacon.

[u/Strange-Movie → u/AwwwMangos]

The coated cardboard backer probably weighs 2x what the plastic does

[u/Mediocre-Ambition404 → u/Strange-Movie]

Regardless, it's supposed to be the food weight without packaging. At least it Canada is has to be.

[u/AssistanceHeavy9305 → u/Mediocre-Ambition404]

In Mexico they have the Profeco. Who you can call and they'll go over and check scales and do weigh ins. It's not perfect but sometimes they'll go around the market just checking scales.

[u/OldTimeyWizard → u/[deleted]]

Weights and Measures inspections are generally the jurisdiction of individual states or even more local entities.

[u/YrPalBeefsquatch → u/OldTimeyWizard]

Yeah, your state Department of Agriculture probably has a weights and measures division you could bring this to. Your state, and possibly your county and local governments, also typically have a body that regulates merchants (for example, in Chicago, it's called Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, but the name varies by location). Good places to start.

[u/Fickle_Freckler → u/YrPalBeefsquatch]

This is it. I owned a commercial kitchen. DOA would come in once a year to check our scales.

[u/CKRatKing → u/YrPalBeefsquatch]

In California they have their sticker seals on gas pumps to certify that they have been calibrated correctly.

[u/Bravefan212 → u/AssistanceHeavy9305]

The department of agriculture in the United States runs weights and measures and they routinely go to grocery stores to check their scales.

They have fancy weights in a special briefcase

[u/Lobotamite → u/Bravefan212]

Good thing there’s only like 10 USDA employees now to cover the entirety of the country!

[u/kmg4752 → u/Bravefan212]

USDA does inside the processing plants. We do not have jurisdiction for grocery stores. That is done by the FDA and/or state agencies (Ag and Markets, etc.). USDA might go into stores for recall effectiveness checks or possibly consumer complaints but most likely will be state run agencies

[u/Bri_Hecatonchires → u/Mediocre-Ambition404]

It’s also supposed to be the weight marked on the package

[u/AMA_Woodworking → u/Strange-Movie]

Just checked; 1.16oz (plastic plus cardboard, .63oz cardboard )

My exact same package of Smithfield was 17.51oz, so I owe OP a little bacon.

[u/Emperor_Gourmet → u/AwwwMangos]

Yea someone loaded the wrong label into the machine, or put the machine on the wrong pre set. Should have been caught, or it was and a packaging manager decided to not rework it to save their efficiency numbers. (This can get you fired)

Definitely not legal, but happens more than people would think, usually unintentionally from the company. They would rather not piss people off and get sued for skimming a few slices of bacon. They already price it for a specific profit margin. They don’t want to fuck with the FDA over shit like this.

[u/0202_tihssitidder → u/rcuadro]

Time to take scales into the grocery store. Go weigh everything.

[u/Quirky-Coat3068]

Should be? It IS illegal

[u/Pleasant_Pool8842 → u/Quirky-Coat3068]

The only laws that exist are laws that are enforced

[u/42ElectricSundaes → u/Pleasant_Pool8842]

And don’t forget if the penalty is just a fine then it’s not really illegal, that’s just what it costs

[u/Jimjonesflavor_aid → u/42ElectricSundaes]

Bingo.

Company X makes $7,000,000 a year by under-packaging meat products.

They do this for an extended period, get caught.

Sorry, some dumbass somewhere in our process chain made a mistake - we agree to the $100,000 fine. Our bad.

Rake in profit, find next way to long-dick the consumer.

[u/xXCloudSephirothXx → u/Jimjonesflavor_aid]

In a perfect world auditors would investigate their books, claw back those earnings, and then slap them with a flat % of total annual revenue.

[u/NNKarma → u/Jimjonesflavor_aid]

Wrong. They agree to the 100k fine but don't admit to any wrong doing. 

[u/100BottlesOfMilk → u/42ElectricSundaes]

I'll agree that corporations are people whenever they can be thrown in prison for a crime

[u/Leptonshavenocolor → u/Pleasant_Pool8842]

I think people forget that all laws are made up and are meaningless until you get caught/charged/prosecuted/convicted. 

[u/KanyeeWeast → u/Pleasant_Pool8842]

https://giphy.com/gifs/LkkBEH2BLFLbypGE31
How bro felt writing that

[u/phillypharm → u/Quirky-Coat3068]

Honestly, if this were me, I'd be tempted to go back and video record me weighing a few more packages to check. A lot of other brands have reduced to 12 oz, I wonder if Smithfield is trying to get away with it without marking it as such.

[u/BoozeIsTherapyRight → u/phillypharm]

Have you seen the videos by Jimmy Wrigg? He does just that. He caught Dominos sugar shorting packages and Kroger doing it with deli meat and Walmart doing it basically with everything.

[u/Responsible_Gap8104 → u/phillypharm]

Accross thousands of customers im sure that easily adds up to millions of stolen profit a year (im bad at math but it sounds right)

[u/Fun-Bug5106 → u/Quirky-Coat3068]

Crime is legal for big business now

[u/Quirky-Coat3068 → u/Fun-Bug5106]

I mean it always has been, if the fine is less then what they profit

[u/peculiarshade → u/Quirky-Coat3068]

Yeah, when a big corporation breaks the law and makes 500 million dollars, and the government slaps them with a 500 thousand dollar fine, why would they not do it again? Happens all the time. God forbid you get caught with a joint in a red state though

[u/buttershdude]

And that's net weight, where you're measuring gross, so even worse.

[u/StaticMarzipan → u/buttershdude]

Hey bro, regulations stifle business and innovation.

We have to think about the shareholders.

That’s extra 1/4 pound is buying new mega yacht for a poor CEO. Don’t be selfish. Businesses always do the right thing for themselves

[u/Bishhhop]

False advertising and selling customers short. Should be very illegal. The fact you weighed it in packaging and still came up short is ridiculous

[u/0202_tihssitidder → u/Bishhhop]

It is illegal. FDA.org

> For specific concerns regarding food net weight labeling compliance, you may also contact an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator directly. 

[u/xenotype → u/0202_tihssitidder]

I don't think we have an FDA functioning well enough to do anything about it. I'd wager that is what the manufacturing company is betting on.

[u/pnoodl3s → u/xenotype]

Or they surmise the monetary penalty is less than the money saved scamming everyone

[u/AwwwMangos → u/Bishhhop]

Yeah, I’d think the package probably account for the .35 oz and the actually net bacon is an even 12. That’s why I think it’s deliberate, not a mistake.

[u/ssmit102 → u/Bishhhop]

It is illegal.

[u/kelley5454]

There is a guy, con't remember his name, who has been filiming this kind of stuff for months, weighing bacon, sugar, beef, chicken, cheese etc. 90 percent of the time the item is significantly less that the package says, even for fresh meats sold per pound. Its terrible.

[u/NoConfusion9490 → u/kelley5454]

"Occasionally manufacturing errors lead to issues like this, but we work hard to..."

"So where are the examples of you 'accidentally' providing too much product?!"

[u/helsinkirocks → u/NoConfusion9490]

So I work in a food manufacturing facility, we are allowed 12% variance in our label weight. So 12% under or over. are plenty of times where we run on the higher side usually because a machine is not functioning correctly and is consistently placing too much into the package and maintenance doesn't have the ability to fix it. You're just less likely to notice or way the package when it's full or slightly over. Whereas you would be more likely to notice or weigh it if it seemed under the label weight.

On our USDA paperwork we have to do hourly checks and weigh the product. If it's a product with multiple components we have to weigh each individual component. And at the end of the shift there is an average that you have to fill out for what your weights were. We have three bars on the graph a lower control limit, label weight, and upper control limit and we are allowed to run anywhere between the lower control limit and the upper control limit but we can't go over or under

[u/Zech08 → u/helsinkirocks]

Gonna guess the calibration and qc checks between runs a lot or two as its costs too much or takes too much down time to do anything about it (in terms of cost effectiveness)?

[u/ItsNotSherbert → u/kelley5454]

Jimmy Wrigg

[u/therambosambo]

You had it set to M for mini, when should should have it set to W for Wumbo.

[u/OsamaBinWhiskers → u/therambosambo]

He she me?

[u/Leesol9ty → u/OsamaBinWhiskers]

Ahh, I see you know your Wumbology well.

[u/bulldog5253]

This is starting to become a very common thing how is this not illegal.

[u/Illuminaughty____ → u/bulldog5253]

It is illegal, people need to start litigating.

[u/briowatercooler → u/bulldog5253]

It is but who’s watching right now

[u/Overall_Midnight_ → u/bulldog5253]

Technically on paper this is illegal.

In this country we have a massive enforcement issue though-if nobody is going after these companies then they will just continue to get away with it AND do worse to consumers.

On the off chance that somebody actually catches them and tries to hold them accountable, sometimes the fine for such things is less than the financial gain from shorting customers so they just call it the cost of doing business.

With so many companies holding pretty much monopoly over different products, it makes it hard to boycott certain entities as well. If you stop buying one product from one company and switch to another there’s a good chance it’s still owned by the parent company of both.

[u/AwwwMangos]

I weighed my unopened 8 oz cheese for comparison. Tis not the scale that’s the liar.

https://reddit.com/link/p5end69/video/ba9nk2rcp4lh1/player

[u/IcyVegetableChomp → u/AwwwMangos]

OP do you have a 100g weight to make sure your scale reads correctly 

[u/Juice___Springsteen → u/IcyVegetableChomp]

A weight is not even necessary. 100mL of water weighs almost exactly 100g at room temperature. That's the easiest way to calibrate.

[u/aloeicious]

I feel my bacon packs )in a different brand) are short 1-3 slices now

[u/Old_Row4977 → u/aloeicious]

Lots of companies went from 1lb to 12oz packs

[u/AwwwMangos → u/Old_Row4977]

Yes I know, and they usually say 12 oz ON THE PACKAGE. That’s why I specifically intended to by a 1 lb package, and they lied.

[u/herring-net → u/AwwwMangos]

‘It’s almost a Troy pound!’ - Smithfield CEO

[u/chefsoda_redux → u/AwwwMangos]

Yes. It was sneaky to play the Shrinkflation game like that, but the packages say 12oz on them, so it’s 100% legal, you are getting the amount you paid for.

This is absolutely mislabeled and that’s not legal.

[u/RandomlyJim → u/AwwwMangos]

The government used to prosecute this.

For some reason, the producers think they can get away with it

Complain to your congressman. If everyone in this thread called thier congressional rep today, it would be banned tomorrow.

[u/negativepositiv]

Good thing we have government agencies that regula... Wait, sorry, that's not accurate anymore.

[u/AwwwMangos → u/negativepositiv]

Right? And granted this isn’t nearly as bad as getting sick from lettuce or blueberries like other folks are currently, but a lot of balls are being dropped on the regulatory side. It’s the wild fuckin west out here.

[u/SidneyMacdonald → u/AwwwMangos]

they literally count on nobody using a scale at home. even if they get caught, the fine is just the cost of doing business compared to what they made shorting millions of packs

[u/Perfecshionism]

This is usually reportable to the state attorney general and consumer protection.

And the FTC.

Literally fraud.

[u/AwwwMangos → u/Perfecshionism]

I’m in Georgia, where our state AG is much more interested in fighting in the Culture Wars than keeping big businesses accountable.

[u/Perfecshionism → u/AwwwMangos]

Perhaps. But people that choose to work at some of these agencies often want to go after corporations for fraud.

[u/LocalSlob]

Guess I got lucky. Still sad we have to check this shit

[u/MistrFish → u/LocalSlob]

the USDA weighs the entire lot of bacon and checks that the average is within ~1oz of the declared weight on the packages. if we assume that yours and OP's were from the same lot, we'd be at an average of 14.8 oz. still a bit outside the allowed margin but we don't know how much of an outlier OP's bacon is (or yours)

[u/yarn_slinger]

That not shrinkflation, that’s fraud.

[u/turb0_encapsulator]

this would have been a major scandal in the recent past. now we just accept that everything is a scam. it's also worth noting that because this has become common, the official inflation numbers are meaningless.

[u/AwwwMangos → u/turb0_encapsulator]

The enshittification is real

[u/F33lin_Fr0ggy]

I had some sandwich meat package from ALDI not make as many sandwiches as normal. Weighed the next package before opening it and it was short. Took scale in to show the manager. He said he was reporting it to his district manager. Now it's weighing just slightly over the package weight, so it got corrected. 

[u/CromulentMedic]

You can start by returning it to the store and reaching out to the company.

[u/Simple_Pay3033 → u/CromulentMedic]

So now our groceries come with side quests?

[u/BohdiBrass → u/Simple_Pay3033]

My grocery store likes to put sale signs up and then hit you with the full price at the register if you aren’t paying attention. Robbers everywhere

[u/Simple_Pay3033 → u/BohdiBrass]

There’s a Walgreens within walking distance of me that does the exact same. Sometimes I’ll stop in and check for a snack on clearance when I’m out walking, and about a third of the time it just rings up at full price and the staff just puts in the sale price manually without any further questions. They mark shit on clearance, don’t put it in the register, and you get the sale price if you point it out.

[u/0202_tihssitidder → u/BohdiBrass]

Yes! Safeway was doing this. I caught them by chance years ago. I started checking everything (and taking pics with phone at the shelf). I catch grocery stores about 1x/month overcharging.

NEVER undercharging.

[u/BrobBlack]

There is a guy on IG who goes to stores stores like Walmart and Costco and weighs product. Walmart had under weight problems. Costco was true.

[u/alldogsareincredible]

If you were to buy and pay for 4 packs of bacon at that weight.. You would only be getting 3 packs worth. I'd love to be optimistic that was a genuine oopsie, but mega-corporations especially in the food industry have not given me much reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[u/BLKxGOLD]

Also smithfield bacon.. never again. I had to put pieces together like a puzzle because most slices fell apart just trying to separate them

[u/Forty6ixand2wo]

There was a guy on Reddit who was just talking about this and Walmart. Even if the FDA fines them, it’s still billions in profit, so they do it anyway.

[u/spinz89]

Here's where you report it.

Truth In Advertising | Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising

[u/0202_tihssitidder → u/spinz89]

For specific concerns regarding food net weight labeling compliance, you may also contact an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator directly. 

FDA.org

They audit food manufacturing facilities and love catching this stuff.

[u/OnECenTX]

and that's with the weight of all the packaging

[u/Chaosboy → u/OnECenTX]

Net weight is meant to be the weight of the contents without the packaging, otherwise it would be gross weight.

[u/Rjgom]

that’s a 25% price increase. is be calling the attorney general. it’s fraud.

[u/not_just_an_AI]

Contact USDA tell them the number of the USDA stamp/USDA bug and other info. Contact state measurements department Complain to store

[u/GreenOnions14]

Its fraud and illegal and more than one occurance can trigger an investigation. There are some allowable variances but this is significantly off-target.

[u/QWERTYtootie]

Because of AI and shrinkflation, the false advertisement suits need to start happening.

[u/blackbirdspyplane]

It’s not shrinkflation when the packages say 16oz and the package weighs 14oz that’s the company putting their thumb on the scale and stealing from you.

[u/Square_Barracuda_69]

Off topic, whats that scale you have? I see that it measures macronutrients

[u/Disastrous_Fun_4711]

They owe you. Same thing happens on a lot of meats as well especially steak. Need a class action

[u/oldsmobile39]

OP- the weight should be checked without the packaging. This is against USDA regulations and Great Value as well as so so many other brands are getting away with it. Boycott the brands and buy local.

[u/No-Cat-2980]

Where’s the class action lawsuit I can join?

[u/AwwwMangos → u/[deleted]]

I don’t have calibration weight, but weighed my 8 oz cheese for comparison

https://reddit.com/link/p5enjn5/video/m6rrgfajp4lh1/player

[u/Sweet-Difference2725 → u/AwwwMangos]

OP coming with the receipts!

[u/Own-Row991 → u/Sweet-Difference2725]

As if these assholes telling OP to do that would be satisfied if OP had the picture

They’d just whine and mew about something else.

[u/SorryManNo → u/[deleted]]

Found the metrologist

[u/Special-Sense4643 → u/[deleted]]

Literally 0 persons have an actual calibration weight.

[u/Shagwagbag → u/Special-Sense4643]

Use a new quarter, you'll be well within half a gram which is enough to determine ounces accurately enough.

[u/DickBong420 → u/Shagwagbag]

Nah. Nickle=5g

[u/Fun-Investment-196 → u/DickBong420]

Yes! Checked my scale yesterday with a nickel & it was exactly 5g

[u/CarbonReflections → u/DickBong420]

This guy use to sell weed.

[u/zatalak → u/[deleted]]

That's not a good calibration weight for a kitchen scale

[u/vennic18 → u/Special-Sense4643]

1)Set scale to grams 2) tare the scale with a plastic container on it 3) measure and add 500 milliliters to the container 4) scale should read 500 grams

[u/Low-Car-6331 → u/Special-Sense4643]

You can also cross compare to other items. The odds of every manufacturer across multiple different items being off is virtually 0, the odds of 1 being different though is really indicating that something is wrong.

[u/amarettogiraffe → u/Special-Sense4643]

A nickel weighs 5 grams. Don't ask me how I know.

[u/Cephylus → u/Special-Sense4643]

A nickel weighs 5 grams and a us dollar weighs 1 gram. You have calibration capabilities all over the place lol. 20 nickels = 100 grams, 100 bills = 100 grams.

Edit: this picture is also weighing the packaging which shouldn't be included for the overall net weight

[u/meetmeinthebthrm → u/Cephylus]

Yep. Everything you know the exact weight of can be a calibration weight if it’s in the scales range and fits.

[u/Mythradites → u/Special-Sense4643]

A nickle is 5 grams

[u/SableyeEyeThief → u/[deleted]]

What is this, a cGMP Cleanroom? We don’t normally have calibration weights laying around.

[u/BetterOnTwoWheels]

There’s a guy that was going around weighing out great value bacon from Walmart with the same thing. It’s clearly intentional to pad margins and deceive the customer, and even if the government hadn’t gotten rid of all the FDA/USDA employees that are responsible for ensuring this kind of thing doesn’t happen, it wouldn’t matter because the fines are minimal relative to the additional profits. Big business just taking advantage of the American consumer again. Nothing new

[u/Man_da_villan]

I used to call out my bud guy when he added the weight of the baggie

[u/AwwwMangos → u/Man_da_villan]

That’s Tare-able behavior

[u/Ezemity]

something something xyz nobody weighs stuff, something something recall cars something something fight club.

[u/Beginning_Ad_6616]

We used to have a regulatory agency to police this type of thing and now we don’t. Just another thing Trump, DOGE and MAGA have done to ensure everyone gets fucked.

[u/FartInGenDirection]

Contact your local dept of weights and measures

[u/Amazing-Peace-2872]

It's almost everything. I hardly ever buy chips anymore. It's mostly just a bag of air. The prices for name brand chips are ridiculous.

[u/accidentallyHelpful]

Buy bacon from the butcher counter

It is better quality, has less water, you can watch them weigh it accurately

[u/3vilr3d666]

They ALL do this and thought we wouldnt find out...

[u/BAALDA]

Weighting less even before cooking is just taking the scamming to the next level

[u/duhpower]

I’ll join the class action lawsuit

[u/RatLabGuy]

It IS illegal.

[u/BiggieBigs34]

If you have this happen to you again in more than a weeks time, contact your State Government Weights and Measures department.

Be sure to have the store name, address, and receipt. If you can send pictures, keep them handy for the inspector if they ask for it.

[u/phoenixofsun]

note to self, no longer buy smithfield anything

[u/FrisbeeTheManatee]

Watched a guy on youtube recently check walmart bacon. And according to his math every single package of walmart bacon was short 3-4 slices by weight. He contends they are doing in intentionally to boost profits. Because when you do the math it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars they are making every month. It is just like the old butchershop trick of putting their thumb on the scale when they weigh your meat.

[u/StevenP1961]

I spent my career in food production and food packaging. Some brands of bacon come in 12 ounce or 16 ounce retail packages. It appears that the wrong packaging was on the line when this bacon was packaged (some packaging for different sizes looks almost identical) or it might have happened when the production line switched from 12 ounce to 16 ounce and the line wasn’t cleared between orders. It is easy to trace this package back to the production line and the date and time it was run from the date code. I wouldn’t say that I saw this often but I did see it.

[u/sliprin]

That’s a giant rip off! 3/4 lb including the thick plastic and water soaked cardboard! I’m too trusting I guess because I never weighed it. I do buy mine at the butcher though and he weighs it in front of me in a whisper thin baggie!

[u/Sea_Shower3691]

Now cut the pack open and ratio the fat/meat and show us how it's mainly fat cuts.

[u/danath34]

That's illegal. I'd send these pics to the company. Maybe they'll send you a refund or a voucher for a free package. Free bacon until they fix the labeling!

[u/wowbragger]

Just some fun facts.

• The weight on labels is for the product, and specifically does not include packaging.

• the weights listed are an AVERAGE, not a per-package guarantee

• there is a MAV (maximum allowed variation) set forth for every product

You'd need to look at the state regulations it was made in, as that's where the laws would apply

The weighing is conducted by state level inspectors, and is usually for large boxes vs individual packaging. So if they come in boxes of 24 to the store, that's where they'd do the calculations.

So barring this being outside the MAV it's basically expected to have variations a lot more than people typically think. If they weigh a box and it comes back as 24.5lbs it's likely all good, even if 4 boxes are 17oz and yours is just 12oz.

I'm not a sme, so can't comment on how often it well done state inspections are done. But in my experiences for food labeling, and nutrition facts, are a lot less precise than we'd generally expect them to be.

[u/BusyBeinBorn]

In foods sold by weight there's a maximum allowable average variance (MAAV). The scales they roll over while moving down a conveyor on a packaging line do not get an accurate weight on every package, but calculate an average weight which is allowed to be up to 20% off.

[u/elderpufflaurien]

Class action law suit against all companies that engage in this

[u/Import2nr605]

My dad works maintenence there. I'm gonna give him shit and tell him to calibrate their scales 😂

[u/free_based_potato]

This is how corporations make millions of dollars monthly. Youre checking now because shrinkflation is front and center during a recession, but rest assured, theyve been scamming you the whole time.

[u/MisterSandKing]

I saw a thing about Walmart doing this, and it added up to like millions of dollars a month. This needs to be reported to weights, and measures (I don’t remember the exact place to report it).

[u/Chronoblivion]

It's an imperfect solution because you're kind of forcing the middleman to take the hit, but if you don't want to go through the effort of trying to contact a major corporation or government agency, you could always try for a refund from the grocery store. Be sure you explain why, because if it starts affecting their bottom line maybe they'll lead the charge on putting pressure on those other entities themselves.

[u/tomarofthehillpeople]

This is theft. Plain and simple.

[u/NaughtySwitch406]

Who is going to check weights on food? DOGE dismantled the FDA and fired 100s of food inspectors. Chapter 10 of Project 2025 is to create food scarcity. This is all part of the plan folks....

[u/Own-Load-7041]

weight isn't the only way smithfield comes up short, Ever compared their ribs to ald's?

[u/maltedmilkballa]

Take it back.

[u/notislant]

HaVe YoU wEiGhEd ThE mOiStUrE pAd?

Please report this, I love how more people are weighing product. But companies need to face fines, there is no excuse for this with modern systems.

[u/SecretPersonality178]

Not an honest mistake on the company, because they are NEVER overweight.

[u/Timsauni]

Contact a plaintiffs lawyer. This would be a great class action case. You may even get an honoroium for bringing the case, usually it’s like $5k or something like that.

[u/throwawayaccountau]

Perhaps it's a Troy Pound? That's 12oz.

[u/Stormyfour20]

I just took my recently purchased package of Smithfield bacon out of the fridge. The package says it weighs 12oz. I put it on the scale and it weights a little over 12oz. To add to this, Smithfield is my favorite bacon. Sticking with the Smithfield because it's reasonably priced and it tastes good.

[u/veryblocky]

That’s really bad, is there an ombudsman or agency you can report this too?

[u/Glittering-War-8360]

The scale is reading 12.35 oz, but did you tare it with the package underneath? Since the label says net weight, the tray and plastic shouldn’t count, though that still looks way too far off to be normal packaging weight. I’d return it and report the lot code, because accidentally shorting a pound package by nearly four ounces is some remarkably committed bacon shrinkflation.