Commissioner Nikki Fried Announces FDACS Consumer Services Inspectors Completed Net Contents Sweep Ahead of Holidays

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced that Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Consumer Services inspectors recently completed a “net contents” sweep to verify the accuracy of food package labeling as it pertains to net quantity. This type of inspection verifies the net contents of product containers to ensure that consumers are getting full measure of the product they pay for.

“With food prices up and many Floridians’ budgets stretched thin this holiday season, it’s more important than ever that we protect consumers from being shortchanged when purchasing their Thanksgiving meals. As the state’s consumer services agency, we take this responsibility seriously,” said Commissioner Fried. “Our investigators have been hard at work visiting food establishments across the state to verify that the food items families are purchasing ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday are priced accurately and pulling from the shelves those items that don’t make weight.”

FDACS inspectors randomly selected 11,173 items for testing at 54 locations across the state to ensure accurate net contents, focusing on food items typically found on a consumer’s holiday table, including turkeys, hams, gravy, stuffing, and yams. Inspectors found various items that were short weight, meaning that the consumer was being charged for more product than they received since the product did not measure up to the net contents stated on the packaging. A total of 601 packages of short weight products were removed from sale during the week-long sweep.

A price verification sweep will begin after Thanksgiving and will focus on items advertised in holiday sale promotions. FDACS inspectors will review holiday sale ads online and from newspapers and randomly select items for testing at a variety of locations across the state. Incorrectly priced items will be immediately removed from sale until the errors are resolved. Any stores advertising a holiday sale could be part of the price verification sweep, including but not limited to department, grocery, hardware, and toy stores.

When in doubt, consumers should contact FDACS – all consumer complaints will be investigated. To file a consumer complaint, visit FloridaConsumerHelp.com or call 1-800-HELP-FLA or 1-800-FL-AYUDA (for Spanish speakers).

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