By Mark Hopper

     A few years ago, I wrote an article about how food manufactures were reducing the size of their packaging but not reducing the prices they charge for their product.

     The most obvious example was with ice cream.  In the old days, a standard carton of ice cream was a half-gallon or 64 ounces.  If you went to the store to get a “carton” of ice cream, you knew you were purchasing a “half-gallon” – 64 ounces.

     But, sometime during the past decade, ice cream manufactures reduced the size of their packages to three pints or 48 ounces.  The carton of ice cream looked similar, but the content was 25% less and the price has remained the same!

     In the last five years, the orange juice companies changed the size of their packaging, too.  One day I discovered that the “Half-gallon” (64 ounces) of orange juice had been reduced to 59 ounces.  Again, the packaging looked so similar that you didn’t really notice unless you read the fine print on the container.  The price did not go down, but the volume was 10% less.

     Recently, when I was shopping at a local market, I noticed that my favorite orange juice carton looked a little different.  The package looked similar but a bit smaller.  When I read the fine print, I discovered that the new carton of orange juice was now 52 ounces!  They reduced the volume by another 10% but the price was still the same!

     I suspect there is a conspiracy going on between food manufacturers and grocery stores.  Their strategy is to reduce the volume or content of their products but not reduce the prices they charge.  I think they assume that the average customer will not notice the difference.

     I believe we need a congressional investigation!  Where is the Consumer Product Safety Commission when we need it?  Where are the government watch dogs who are supposed to protect us from misleading and false advertising?

     What will be next?  Will grocers start packaging egg cartons with only 10 eggs?  Will they start altering the scales in the produce section so that a five pound bag of potatoes will only contain 4 1/2 pounds?  Will the pound of ground beef be reduced by 10%?

Where will this conspiracy end?

     There is a passage in the Old Testament that warns against defrauding others.  “Do not have two different weights in your bag – a heavy one and a lighter one.  Do not have two different measuring cups – one large and one smaller.  You must have accurate and honest weights and measures (when you buy and sell) (Deuteronomy 25:13-15).

     You have heard the phrase “Buyer Beware”.  That is still true today.  Let me encourage you to read the labels carefully at your grocery store.  Read the fine print that tells you the real size and weight of the contents.  Don’t be misled or confused.   And, you may want to write to your local Congressman and request a Congressional investigation, too!

This article was written by Pastor Mark Hopper of Efree Church of Diamond Bar. Sunday Services are held at 9:00 am & 10:45 am at 3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd. You can contact the church at 909.594.7604 or visit them online at Efreedb.org