NEW YORK–Whole Foods is facing some serious allegations that have a big impact on customers.
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs announced that following a lengthy investigation into the high-end supermarket chain’s locations in New York, it was discovered that Whole Foods routinely overcharges customers for items. The DCA regularly inspects all city supermarkets to ensure pricing and sale accuracy.
Specifically, Whole Foods is accused of mislabeling the weights on pre-packaged foods, saying they are heavier than they actually are, and therefore increasing the price. Dairy, meats and baked goods are all items that fall under the pre-packaged food umbrella.
The DCA says it tested 80 different products, and found that all of them had mislabeled weights. In addition, 89 percent of the packages didn’t meet federal standards for how much a labeled weight can deviate from the actual weight on each individual item.
The overcharges ranged from $0.80 for pecan panko to $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp.
The DCA said to be particularly wary for items in which all the individual packages are labeled with the same weight.
- DCA inspected eight packages of vegetable platters, which were priced at $20/package. Consumers who purchased these packages would have been, on average, overcharged by $2.50—a profit of $20 for the eight packages. One package was overpriced by $6.15.
- DCA inspected eight packages of chicken tenders, which were priced at $9.99/pound. Consumers who purchased these packages would have been, on average, overcharged by $4.13—a profit of $33.04 for the eight packages. One package was overpriced by $4.85.
- DCA inspected four packages of berries, which were priced at $8.58/package. Consumers who purchased these packages would have been, on average, overcharged by $1.15—a profit of $4.60 for the four packages. One package was overpriced by $1.84.
The fine for overcharging customers based on a mislabeled or falsely labeled package can be as much as $950 for the first violation, and up to $1,700 for subsequent violations. Whole Foods is facing allegations of thousands of violations.
“It is unacceptable that New Yorkers shopping for a summer BBQ or who grab something to eat from the self-service aisles at New York City’s Whole Foods stores have a good chance of being overcharged,” said DCA Commissioner Julie Menin. “Our inspectors tell me this is the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers, which DCA and New Yorkers will not tolerate. As a large chain grocery store, Whole Foods has the money and resources to ensure greater accuracy and to correct what appears to be a widespread problem—the city’s shoppers deserve to be correctly charged.”
There are nine Whole Foods supermarkets in Connecticut, though they have not been investigated on similar charges.
This isn’t the first time that Whole Foods has come under fire for overcharging customers. In 2012 it was discovered that there were pricing irregularities in supermarkets in California locations. In those cases, city attorneys helped bring a civil consumer protection lawsuit against the company on behalf of customers, resulting in Whole Foods having to pay almost $800,000.
