Chicken Thighs - Ripoff Package - © 2013 maggiejs.ca

Supermarket Dirty Tricks: Weight bumping

Herewith, we start a series, with posts when warranted, about ways that supermarkets trick you… And sometimes outright rip you off. Problem is, it’s all technically legal. And, unless we all get up on our high horses about it and demand justice, we’ll never get these questionable practices changed…

Chicken Thighs - Ripoff Package - © 2013 maggiejs.caSee the jowly, floppy-looking bits at the end of each thigh, closest to
the edges of the tray? That’s just extra skin and fat left on the thigh to pad
the weight of the package. Try not to buy packages like this, unless
you get a really, REALLY good buy – like $1.99 per pound…

Okay… Introductory rant over. On to business.

Today, I’m going to revisit an old theme that I touched upon several months ago. I’ve just had another frustrating experience with this particular practice and I want to underline how downright low and dastardly it is. I refer to the – Alas! – all-too-common practice of padding the weight of meat packages by tucking waste products – fat and skin, mainly – under the ‘good’ meat on a styrofoam tray package which is ultimately sold by the pound/kilogram.

I recently bought a tray of chicken thighs at what I considered a good price. However, after trimming off all the added fat and skin, I was left with only 2/3 of the original weight I purchased. Technically, the skin and fat, from the belly of the birds in question rather than the skin on the thighs, themselves, was attached to the thigh, therefore making it technically a part of the cut.

I say rubbish! It’s a rip-off, through and through.

So I say, let’s start complaining about this kind of abusive nonsense when our supermarket or butcher shop tries to pull it on us. In the last resort, start buying your meat elsewhere, or selecting  non-wrapped fresh cuts from the butcher’s case so you can see all sice of the piece before accepting it. Meat costs too much, as it is. There’s no excuse for retailers to cheat us by padding the weight of pre-packaged cuts with what amounts to inedible garbage!

~ Maggie J.