According to the Australian National Measurement Institute, in 2014 and 2015 thousands of products being sold at Woolworths and Coles were found to be weighing less than promised on packaging. About 7 percent of 29,000 lines of packaged goods were underweight, with seafood being the worst-performing category, followed by dairy and meat. Almost 4,000 non-compliance notices were issued, along with 139 warning letters and 98 fines, for a total value of $92,650.
A Woolworths in Queensland was fined $3,000 for selling underweight birthday sponge cakes, although the company said it was an isolated event. A similar fine was imposed on Coles for using a miscalibrated weighing instrument, an error that – as the supermarket chain reported – involved one product in one store and was ‘quickly corrected’.
