Short measures of Packed Meat & what does E mean

Robbo_30

Not impressed with Tesco. Purchased 2 packs of their own 750gram minced beef. Got them home and weighed them out of their packaging. One lot of mince weighed 675grams the other weighed 725grams. So customers beware! Rang my local Tesco and they said "well you can bring them back for a refund" I got off the phone thinking , they didn't care. I did ask if the 750 gram included packing and once the Tesco member of staff went off to get advice she confirmed that the 750 grams was for the meat alone.

Rang Trading Standards, Citizens Advice answered and will pass on my complaint but advised not to expect anything. They did advise me that if their is an 'E' adjacent to the weight on the packet, that means that the weight is estimated and could be weighing either side of the stated weight. I did not know that and find it difficult to accept.

Tesco's have given me a refund in the form of a gift card plus an extra 50 pence.....impressive hey!

I went in the same store this morning taking a closer look at the Tesco packs of Minced Beef and was surprised as to how much the different packets looked in the shape of how much meat was in each. So in future when purchasing I will be looking for the packs containing the most meat, regardless of the stated weight.

alanq

Robbo_30 wrote: »

They did advise me that if their is an 'E' adjacent to the weight on the packet, that means that the weight is estimated and could be weighing either side of the stated weight. I did not know that and find it difficult to accept.

"e" is an average weight. Variation from the average is permitted within certain limits.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/packaged-goods-weights-and-measures-regulations

nooney

Exactly the same thing happened to us last week. We bought smoked salmon from Tesco and it was 82g instead of 100g. My husband phoned to complain and told that “e” meant estimate and coujld be 10% either way. As this was more than 10% we were sent a £4 voucher.

PLRFD

I would buy something for £11:40 and pay them with a tenner that's got an E scribbled on it.

maman

Thanks for this. I knew nothing about the E on packs.


It's a shame that the scales that used to be in the fruit and veg of most stores seem to have disappeared.

LABMAN

maman wrote: »

Thanks for this. I knew nothing about the E on packs.


It's a shame that the scales that used to be in the fruit and veg of most stores seem to have disappeared.

Not in Morrisons, Tesco or Asda in my area. With shop and scan there's even more being introduced.

artyclarty

Just a little more detail here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_sign

It has been a legal requirement to use the "estimated weight" on packaging for nearly a decade but has been on meat (and other variable weight products) for considerably longer than that.*

*source - have worked in retail for way too long!!

jenniewb

If you use the self-service checkout, the tills will show the weight normally in the corner of the screen. As long as you cover the barcode so it wont scan, you can check the weight before you choose to buy or not if you are unable to find the scales in the store you're in.