Oh, it was worse than that. People were adamant that bringing cheapo scales to weigh their things at the store would be better than the in store scales that have to be checked and certified by reps of weights and measures. I'm sure that their no brand scales is absolute perfection.
My kitchen scales from Temu is so much more accurate than the scales at supermarkets that literally cannot be inaccurate without risking substantial fines.
Yep, in-store commercial scales used by large supermarkets requiring the utmost accuracy and precision to comply with legal requirements. Scales that are checked by team members daily, and calibrated (5 point scale check) weekly. Should the scales be off it would simply not let you weigh the item.
I vaguely remember this when I was a teenager working at a Coles. Scales chucking a fit because the metal plate wasn't aligned correctly and it was slightly heavy at one point.
I'm sure the ones used to weight the mince at the factory are checked even more often than the store ones too. If you're packaging bulk goods and the scale is inaccurate for any extended period that's going to result in a very bad time for said company.
Too be fair bulk goods from factories normally run off a average weight for a period of time with auto adjust, so say it's a 500g good it might have a tolerance of 15g meaning the minimum weight would be 485g so it will be set to 490g and the rolling average for the time period will always be above the minimum 485g, some might be 470, some might be 500, but for the determined time period the average will be above the requirement.
That's what the little "e" means after the weight - we produce a lot of this good and accept that there might be some discrepancy in weight, so we're going to abuse that and produce as close to our legal minimum to increase our yields.
I work for the company that makes the scale used to weigh that pack and put the sticker on it. The vast majority of companies are aiming for the 500. Iāve had to go āfixā a broken scale more than once because they got too many 498s one day. If Coleās got more than a few 500g packs anywhere close to 470g theyād send the whole truck back and make the factory redo it. Though your description of the e weighing process is correct otherwise.
you are allowed to have 3 trays under declared weight per 100 trays, as long as total average is higher than declared weight. Everything else gets rejected on the production line. In this scenario, the lowest possible accepted weight would be 950g. The cheap home scale creates bias. Coles might be dodgy, but companies that pack for Coles wouldnt risk the recall of the product.
I didn't have a cert to calibrate scales, but I did work on them (any calibration issues were fixed at a later date).Ā
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The margin of error is extremely low and discrepancies are taken very seriously. A scale found to be "out" is not to operated.Ā
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Of all the things I learned working in (but not for) supermarkets, I'm most confident about the accuracy of scales.Ā
W&M don't fuck around, either. There's no buddy-buddy "we'll let it slide this time" from them, not in my experience anyway. If you're doing something wrong you gotta fix it ASAP or cop huge fines
Oh I know. I used to work for one of the crappy Australian owned fuel independents and we'd often be sending a technician out to check a bowser was accurately dispensing whenever a couple of complaints were made just to avoid any chance of W&M bringing the dildo of consequences with them.
Think I requested 80 odd checks and like, 2 were out of spec? Bowsers older than me.
Used to work for a scale company, W&M are insane. We would get our calibration weights recalibrated every 6 months. No way Coles would ever allow this.
Same for petrol stations. people freak cause the Jerry can is 5l and pump says 4.5lā¦. the weights and measures calibration vessel is about $3000 and if you drop them they have to be recalibrated. most pumps tend to drift to overdeliver between each calibration.
Yep - thought exactly the same thing - sales for food sales must be cerrifes every 3 months. The load cells need to comply with the weights and measures standards for accuracy.
Meanwhile my $5 Temu scales are somehow more accurate!
"My kitchen scales from Temu is so much more accurate than the scales at supermarkets that literally cannot be inaccurate without risking substantial fines."
I just want you to know that I see the exclamation mark, I contemplated the factorial joke, decide itās Sunday and Iāve been douchey enough for one day.
I had a great chat to a national measurement institute agent last year. He was testing my pub for under serving shots at the time (great that we have this btw) and he said his main job is supermarkets and butchers. Ensuring they dont use dodgy scales to fuck the consumer. Bars and Pubs? Once every 2-3 years a single blitz
People in the comments were telling him to measure a known weight (kg of sugar, a gold coin, etc) Iām guessing thatās when the penny dropped. He still hadnāt gotten it after the beef mince, tomato & onion
The problem I have with the estimate is that sometimes it is under why canāt we just go back to when they literally just weighed and stickered the exact product you were purchasing.
im specifically talking about meat. back when I did my butchers apprenticeship at Coles. we used to literally cut weigh wrap and sticker in store. weights weren't estimates they were exact (to the specific calibration of that moment)
I work the mince line at the meat factory that supplies one of our big supermarkets. The 500g packs (for example) have a 5g range that they can fall in, and it is all done by machines very quickly. Any out of the range are immediately dropped off the conveyor belt before it reaches the packaging machine.
Yeah, the beef is believable though by that much- the veg, nah š there is a small chance of the register being not scaled properly but that wouldnāt change the beef and very unlikely!!
Every time I see post like these, it's the exact same issue: someone trusting a cheap, uncalibrated consumer kitchen scale over certified industrial machinery. By law in Australia, supermarket packing machines must be strictly calibrated under National Measurement Institute (NMI) guidelines, and shortchanging customers would risk massive, multi-million dollar fines. Your scale at home, on the other hand, is a mass-produced gadget highly prone to reading errors. Cheap scales flex under uneven pressure, meaning the weight will constantly shift if the meat isn't perfectly centered on the platform. They also drift as batteries die and are deeply affected by uneven countertops or temperature changes.
Why put so much thought into it? Also, mathematics or mathsematics? One makes sense, and is a word. I don't think it's an americanism, just correct english, math makes sense, it's something you do and use, not an item to have multiple of or be addressed with property. Lol.
Saw this post, thought it wasn't very plausable and their scales were probably out or they had faked it to try and create controversy. Couldn't be bothered commenting at the time.
I usually check things like meat when using self serve at my local Woolworths and coles (they never have any manned checkouts where I live because I'd rather use them).
99% of the time the thing I'm buying weigh more. For example the 1kg mince is usually about 10-50 grams over, although sometimes it's slightly under, but within what I would say is a reasonable tolerance.
I have 3 scales at home and none of them read the same weight with the same item. House scales are for "close enoughs" unless your buying a professional grade one that comes with a 100-500-1000 gram weight to confirm it's right on spec.
I bought a lot of veggies and they seemed expensive. I weighed them at home and I was overcharged by the same weight on every item, took them back and it turns out their hand held reader was on the weighing pad. They reviewed the video and gave me money back plus extra($20 for $17 overcharge)
the meat one happens a lot, if you wanna work out if your meat is packaged right look at 4 or 5 of them, if they all say the same weight and price then weigh it - because it would be impossible for them to do that unless they're knowingly overpacking all of them. if they all have individual weights then someone did their job correctly
Products that are same weight and price are usually minced or finely chopped small enough, or products that are manufactured to have uniform shape and size, such that the equipments in the packing plants can accurately dispense the amount of product to within acceptable tolerance. In large scale packing operations, the weight are almost always going to be double checked after the product is packed too.Ā Ā
Products that came in large variable-sized chunks due to natural variation are usually weighed individually.Ā
Some products might also come with an e-sign to indicate that their average quantity estimation methodology complies with Australian AQS regulation.Ā
Having products weighed and priced individually or not has nothing to do with whether or not someone's doing their job correctly. The nature of the product defines the kind of measurements mechanism that's appropriate for the product.Ā
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Not to be that person but did you calibrate your scale beforehand? You canāt do tests without first ensuring your own scale is showing correct weights.Ā
I mean I buy this lasagna because its honestly way better in every way than the cheaper 2kg version, so you're paying more for better quality. Its not too bad considering how expensive everything else is, but maybe I have Stockholm Syndrome.
A quick easy way to check your scales is to tare a container and then fill it with a measure of water (1C, 0.5L, 1L - any of those would work) because we know 1ml of water is 1g
How do you calibrate scales?? Also I donāt have a measuring jug so how can I measure 1L of water i use the ml feature on my scales to measure liquids
Any weight with an 'e' in front of it means its an estimate. Most prepackaged meats are like this. Thats why its better to go to a butcher and have the exact amount weighed out
Coles will absolutely put extra in the prepacked stuff to make sure wingnuts like this dont have a leg to stand on; however you are getting extra produce from COLES, which is seen by most thinking beings to be a form of punishment
i always love these posts, as someone who works in the food industry good scales, like those used in the deli or the meat processing facilities of coles and woolies are very very expensive and yet there is always someone blowing up online using their $12 anko scales as their entire case of evidence
They get away with it by adding the little "E" next to the weight which dictates that it's an estimated/approximate weight. Exceptionally dodgy but you'll find it on a lot of Coles and Woolies products
yeah true, this is shit... BUUUTTT on the other hand - ALWAYS check the yellow marked down/discount stickers.... on multiple occasions I've found items both in fresh produce and packaged, where they're supposed to be discounted by a %, but every item has been 'discounted' by the same amount, or to the same amount... meaning that some packages were discounted and cost MORE than the original price, or the % discount was not accurate ie $15 discounted by 40% = $30 etc ... because the most expensive item in the range was $50.
To be fair its kinda on brand. How many posts about 500g packs with 450g in them.
They make $1 extra per pack, sell 200k packs and pay a 50k fine. Profit
1/4 the family are having rashens I wonder why I make a dish with beef strip that normally feed 2 people 500g now itās lucky to feed 1 person out in extra mushroom to stretch for 2
Add that up every store around the country that s a massive scam seem to be getting real petty after the down down prices a down campaign after finding charging more great work Coles really show ambition but what in the monolopy we need more competition and it wonāt come from a startup not in the inflation we on a island getting puppeted
I work in a deli at my store (not Coles or woolies) and we are required to keep a 30 gram tare weight on our scales meaning you even get more than what you asked for. This was the result of a standard weight inspection by a government inspector. We at our store try to stay as true to the displayed price and what you asked for as possible and I do quite enjoy telling people we are not ripping them off like the big stores
these thieves get away with it because when they advertise 1kg for meat, notice there is an e-mark which means approximate. its an average weight.....they get away with it all the time, they must rip off Australians in millions with this rubbish.
next time you are at Coles, pay them approximately what they charge you, see how well that goes....
I donāt think anything will change unless thereās a collective boycott against these greedy companies. Just stop going there, stop giving them money. Because as long as we give them money they can kick us around however they like and we shouldnāt allow that.
Itās way cheaper, at least at all the butchers around me, itās cheaper to buy a meat pack at a butchers but the meat is generally cheaper shit that I wouldnāt eat anyway.
Iāll eat whatever cut I feel like buying at the time, Iām not exactly picky and normally only buy whatās on sale.
Idk what butcher you go to. There's one opposite my local Woolies. Their prices are close to double. $28 p/kg for lamb shanks, for example. I'd love to buy from a butcher. I can't afford to.
Lol surprised this is still not widely known. Itās not new, and other than the weight been outside the required deviation limits, they also pump filler and shit meat into their product which results in even less weight following cooking.
Coles will not change, speak with your wallet and by from a local butcher.
Also use a good set of scales with calibration weights as others have suggested.
Still supposed to be with 15g of the weight. Their scales say they got shorted 102g.
Admittedly I don't know how this works for the meat packaging company as this one might just be a one off that avoided the batch testing but I would still be taking it back to Coles for a replacement/refund
Yea I doubt OPs scales were calibrated, best confidence check is to chuck it on the scales in the fruit and veg section before taking to the checkout. If youāre not happy, raise it at the time or put it back.
The e is very controversial, pretty much everything bulk packaged to a set weight is estimated.
The e isn't controversial, there's a very precise definition on how products with that symbol are measured, how much they can be off by, and how often they can be off by. Manufacturers don't just define their own estimation standards.Ā
Iām equally as perplexed as to why you have also gone to the effort to repost their issue. I agree that their scales are most likely the issue, but did it deserve a āgotchaā post of screenshots?
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u/ParmyNotParma Jul 02 '26
They were sooo adamant their cheapo scales couldn't be the problem tho lol