Truth In Advertizing

[mojaco]

Having lived in Thailand 17 years, I have seen much improvement in labeling foods with their contents. But recently had a surprise.

"Imperial Soft Butter" . . . been buying it for a few years. Real butter (if it gets hot the butter separates into clarified liquid butter and solids.) The latest one I bought:

(1) Top label still says 250 grams (in Thai) and looks the same as always

(2) It seemed light when I bought it. Got home and the butter tub says 125 grams (in Thai)

(3) Strangely soft butter - doesn't separate into clarified portion when warm. Very strange texture.

(4) Looked at the content label:

37.5 % milk fat

37.5 % vegetable oil

1.8 % salt

1.5 % natural color and flavor added

Hardly "Butter" (as I have grown up knowing it) by any stretch of the imagination.

(5) And . . . What is the secret 21.7% other part they don't disclose?!!! (I hate to imagine.)

Of course I could go on about things in the USA also . . . "water-added ham" (selling water at ham price and making it sound good), "squeezably-soft Charmin tissue" (because they are selling air), and the like.

Pays to watch the content labels. No more Imperial Soft Butter for me.

Morris (not the cat)

[slapout]

I have found on the last 2 times I purchased frozen turkey the selling weight marked did not agree with the meat counter scale (Makro), 1 kilo less. They will change the price when it is pointed out. packets of cough drops have gone from a 10 count to 8 (they took the number of pieces off the packet) Price sticker put over the expiry date for milk, cream, etc. and some local make bread have no date made on them.

I used to laugh at the MIL when she carried a little pocket weight scale to do her shopping, now I can appreciate her take on things.

Thailand does advertise a truth in packaging department but they may be on inactive posts most of the time.

[Moonrakers]

I once bought a ham and cheese croissant from Tesco (I think)

Got home and took a bite, there was no ham and no cheese. Just a tiny bit of both was put in at the very edge to make it look as though there was some inside.

Very, very cheeky.

[Beetlejuice]

I have found on the last 2 times I purchased frozen turkey the selling weight marked did not agree with the meat counter scale (Makro), 1 kilo less. They will change the price when it is pointed out. packets of cough drops have gone from a 10 count to 8 (they took the number of pieces off the packet) Price sticker put over the expiry date for milk, cream, etc. and some local make bread have no date made on them.

I used to laugh at the MIL when she carried a little pocket weight scale to do her shopping, now I can appreciate her take on things.

Thailand does advertise a truth in packaging department but they may be on inactive posts most of the time.

In Makro when we purchase frozen meat and stuff from the cold storage cabinets that have to be weighed and priced, they are also charging for the ice content plus the packaging.

Again in Makro, when we purchase fresh meat from the counter, they always weigh the meat after it`s been packaged, so we pay extra for the packaging as well.

For example if a frozen meat product is marked as 43 baht per kilo, it may total up as 46 baht a kilo with the ice inside and packaging.

Has anyone noticed the decrease in the size of cans of soft drinks? Coke, Pepsi and so on, reduced from 330ml to 325ml. Reduced in content, but not in price.

Many makes of 3 in 1 coffee. Bags of 30 sachets reduced to 28 and some 25 sachets.

This practice has been going on for years by these companies that rob and cheat us on a daily basis.

[fxm88]

Has anyone noticed the decrease in the size of cans of soft drinks? Coke, Pepsi and so on, reduced from 330ml to 325ml. Reduced in content, but not in price.

Many makes of 3 in 1 coffee. Bags of 30 sachets reduced to 28 and some 25 sachets.

This practice has been going on for years by these companies that rob and cheat us on a daily basis.

Whoever invented this trick should have gotten a patent on it... they'd be a billionaire by now!

http://consumerist.com/tag/grocery-shrink-ray

[Latindancer]

I felt sick one morning after eating Camel Nuts Smoked Almonds.....it is a popular brand here.....and has "No MSG added" featured prominently on the front. On the back, the added ingredients include Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is high in Glutamate; virtually the same as MSG. Plus, there are 2 other ingredients ....flavor enhancers E627 and E631.....which (according to Wikipedia) are almost always found with MSG, as they enhance it's effect.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Latindancer