“When I weigh the salmon slices it is consistently underweight. The packages have weighed 136, 137, 141 and 143 grams.”
That’s how a reader writes to Råd och Rön’s question column, which is answered by the magazine’s editors and professional consumer advisors at their subsidiaries.
The reader in question has bought Coop’s own cold-smoked salmon on at least three occasions, and each time received a smaller amount of salmon than promised.
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Photo: Vidar Ruud/TTCan an item deviate in weight? It applies
But managing to measure out exactly 150 grams of salmon each time may sound a touch impossible to some.
And the fact is that the net quantity does not always have to correspond to the quantity promised on the packaging.
“It is not clear in the food legislation how much the stated net quantity may deviate from the actual weight or volume of the food. But that does not mean that the net quantity stated in the label must always exactly correspond to the actual quantity,” writes The Swedish Food Agency on its website.
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So much less the product must weigh
Certain rules about weight and volume are decided by Swedac, the Board for Accreditation and Technical Control.
In Råd og Rön’s article it says Renee Hanssoninvestigator at Swedac, that prepackaged goods that can change in weight during storage must not deviate by more than nine percent of the total weight.
This means that a package of salmon that should weigh 150 grams may weigh a maximum of 13.5 grams less than that. If you get 136.5 grams of fish or less, it therefore weighs too little.
Photo: Jessica Gow/TTCoops response to criticism: “The weight is dropping”
When they contact Coop about the criticism, they say that smoked salmon is a product that can change in weight, as the fish releases liquid and fat – which in turn is absorbed by the paper disc it is on. They know the problem from before.
“The food giant has been in contact with its supplier who, when packing the salmon, measured 150 grams, but then the weight drops during storage,” writes Advice and Opinion.
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