this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2024
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Mildly Infuriating

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I bought 175 g pack of salami which had 162 g of salami as well.

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[–] [email protected] 178 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (22 children)

Let me introduce you to tolerance in measuring instruments and measuring errors.

Edit: Apparently I'm pro evil companies because I just pointed out that scales (and more importantly non-professional scales) have relatively high error tolerances (+ the measurament method error). Thus the measuring of this pasta and the possible interpretations of it have to take into account that.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 9 months ago

When was the last time OP performed a guage R&R with a traceable calibrated mass standard? πŸ˜‚

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[–] [email protected] 161 points 9 months ago (12 children)

Sup, I'm your local friendly USDA contractor who very much uses scales everyday. Consumer grade kitchen scales are terrible and will lie to you. The fact that it does not go out to the tenths or hundredths is a big flag for accuracy.

We check test our scales twice a year to make sure they are accurate. I once tried check testing my kitchen scale I use for canning for giggles and it failed miserably. It would only register weight on 2 out of 4 quadrants until I got to 10g or so. I'm sure my ohaus is going to show a different and more accurate result if I where to try it.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Eight grams off? That seems rather significant. I mean we use to buy 20 grams of weed we'd know if it was almost half shy.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago

8g sure but this is only within 2% error. most scales would probably be within 3% so this isn't surprising

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[–] [email protected] 146 points 9 months ago (43 children)

wouldnt weight slightly fluctuate with moisture content?

[–] [email protected] 138 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

yeah. 8g is a tiny weight difference here and could easily be accounted-for due to humidity with pasta. it's about the weight of 3-4 strands of that pasta

[–] [email protected] 44 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Could also just be losing a strand or two in packaging. It happens. That's why they're allowed some wiggle room on the packaging weight, and 8 grams is a pretty reasonable margin of error for a product like this.

Shrinkflation is definitely a thing, but this isn't a good example.

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[–] [email protected] 127 points 9 months ago (4 children)

-2% is probably allowed and this is -1.95%. It's okay I guess. I'd probably trust my cheap, regularly used and never calibrated kitchen scale less than I would trust these companies to comply with such rules.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Actually it's usually closer to 5%, but to avoid consumers getting mad most companies have internal variance limits of less. Still, 2% is pretty tight for manufacturing equipment. Despite the mass prevalence of corporate greed, it does end up being better for most companies overall to be on the slightly heavy end of net weight rather than lower end and most manufacturing guardrails and in line weight checks are calibrated with that in mind.

This is entirely due to the risk of images like this going viral and causing blowback for the company. So, to keep products on average a little heavier, posting things like this is great

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 9 months ago (15 children)

The FDA regulation on Net Weight is found in 21 CFR 101.105. In this regulation FDA makes allowance for reasonable variations caused by loss or gain of moisture during the course of good distribution practice or by unavoidable deviations in good manufacturing practice. FDA states that variations from the stated quantity of contents should not be unreasonably large.

While FDA does not provide a specific allowable tolerance for Net Weight, this matter could come under FTC jurisdiction. FTC has proposed regulations that would unify USDA and FDA Net Contents labeling and incorporate information found in the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) Handbook 133.

NIST Handbook 133 specifies that the average net quantity of contents in a lot must at least equal the net quantity declared on the label. Plus or minus deviation is permitted when caused by unavoidable variation in weighing and measuring that occur in good manufacturing practice. The maximum allowable variance for a package with a net weight declaration of 5 oz is 5/16 oz. Packages under-filled by more than this amount are considered non-compliant.

http://www.foodconsulting.com/q&a.htm

[–] [email protected] 52 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

The maximum allowable variance for a package with a net weight declaration of 5 oz is 5/16 oz.

oddly, that's just over 8g, the difference noted in OP's example. so, OP's package is within he allowable tolerance, just.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago (6 children)

And it would probably be more expensive to get precision-calibrated equipment to get you at the bottom end of the tolerance to save product cost than what it would cost to just aim for the correct value with less precise equipment.

This one is a conspiracy theory I struggle to get behind. It seems like the conspiracy would be less profitable than the "proper" behavior here.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (8 children)

5/16 oz

How many football fields to the gallon is that? On a serious note this is something far better expressed as a fraction than an amount of difference for one specific container size...

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[–] [email protected] 70 points 9 months ago (3 children)

On our packaging (Germany) we have a little "e" meaning it will be Β± the weight with a deviation of 1.5-9% depending on the volume.
https://www.payback.de/ratgeber/besser-leben/kleines-e-auf-verpackung

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

I don’t see anything on the scale indicating it was not tared. Nor do I know whether or not you took a noodle or two out of the pile before weighing

For all we know, you tared this +20g and this is feel-good anti-corporate propaganda. Which is fine, we all hate the corporations…but propaganda is propaganda.

Op, please post a video showing a calibration weight on the scale followed immediately by your pasta taken directly out of a sealed box. For science.

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 9 months ago (3 children)

It's a 2% difference. The cutting and packaging is done (most probably) by machines. I have clinically diagnosed OCD, and I wouldn't care about 8g of missing pasta... How much do you leave on the plate/in the pot/throw away? :)

Otoh, hitting exactly 410g (assuming the scale is calibrated, and you have the same temperature, air moisture and altitude as the factory), is very difficult. They could adjust their machines so the variation hangs a bit more towards the customer, but for them, 2% x millions of boxes = profit.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Most of our packaging machines require < 1%, target <0.5% variance (both ways). Honestly in practice, over a whole batch the total variance is extremely tiny.

Add to this story the accuracy of a household, not-calibrated scale? Yeah I'd say this seems OK.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months ago (13 children)

πŸ€”Hmm doubt it's humidity issue the issue. But more importantly why is it not in 500g packets like all the pasta in the world?

[–] [email protected] 44 points 9 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 9 months ago (16 children)

How do we know your scale is right?

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 9 months ago

Get a better scale first

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago (3 children)

You've bought spaghetti Kelly, not cocaine.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I worked on a manufacturing line for 4oz pepper cans

They had a machine that weighed them and kicked out underweight ones.

The tolerances were horrible.

McCormick was 3.9 I think

Black and white can 3.5. !!!

Yes both were made on the same exact line

[–] [email protected] 37 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Depending on where you live this is actually illegal. In Germany, as example, if you say that something contains 200g it means that there have to be at least 200g inside. If its less, that can cost the producer a lot if he gets fined for it.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Except no. First issue it's messured wrong. You messure a full package and then an empty one in the factory. Losses during shipping and so on is the problem of the customer. Especially meat looses a lot of water. People don't weigh the water in the cloth.

Also the little e (estimated sign, 76/211/EEC) besides the package does specially allow variations. Only the entire batch must be correct on average. But there is a limit on how much variations is allowed. And big companies are closely watched.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago

Right. And they actually do it. Another thing: there's a list here von "Verbraucherschutz" (consumer protection) that lists all products that have less than before in it to the same price, of course it's on the package, but most people don't pay attention to it. The "Mogelpackung Liste" (cheat packaging list): https://www.vzhh.de/mogelpackungsliste

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Yes, it seems that way because your kitchen scale is faulty and measuring everything a bit on the light side.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Could be worth checking your scale, if everything seems to be underweight. Low battery can show as lower result on some scales

[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I need to start using old batteries in my bathroom scale.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago

If everything you're measuring is lower than expected, you should check the calibration of the scale. Weigh 2 or 3 things you know the weight of that are at different ranges of weights, light, heavy, medium, and see if any are off. Often a scale will be accurate at only within a certain range and get progressively less accurate as the weight increases or decreases from that range.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago

I have the same scale. I wouldn't trust it too far, especially combined with the tolerances and humidity weight changes.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There are different factors. One being accuracy of the scale, then there is loss of weight due to moisture loss, and also there are greedy companies. It can be any of theese(or a combination of theese)

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago

Well... Cardboard is quite edible, maybe you should also put it on the balance.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I weighted my 500 gram broccoli recently and it was over 800 grams so I guess this goes both ways. Or then they're compensating for the stem.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago (9 children)

But you can eat the stem. Just peel it and cut it into pieces.

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