The Consumer Council of Fiji is outraged at the continuous attempts by supermarkets to mislead, dupe and rip-off Fijians.[Source: Gerilynns]

The Consumer Council of Fiji is outraged at the continuous attempts by supermarkets to mislead, dupe and rip-off Fijians.

This is after the Council received complaints against supermarkets who have reverted to their old tactic of selling pre-packed garlic weighing far less than what is stated on the packaging.

During market surveillance and random checks, the Council discovered that the net weight of pre-packed garlic at a supermarket was labelled as 500g.

However, to the Council’s dismay, some of this pre-packed garlic weighed between 406g to 446g.

Consumer Council Chief Executive, Seema Shandil has called on all supermarkets and traders to bring about transparency and ethical business practices while dealing with consumers.

Shandil says certain supermarkets are deliberately making hard-working Fijians pay more for less, effectively robbing them in broad daylight.

According to the Trade Measurement Packaging Regulation 46, for prepacked items such as potatoes, onions and garlic, the actual permissible deficiency is 5 percent.

Hence, for single pre-packed 500g garlic, the maximum deficiency should be 25 grams only, which means it should not weigh less than 475 grams.

A stern warning has been issued the Council to all supermarkets that dubious practices as such will not go undiscovered.

Consumers have been urged to remain vigilant and properly check the weight of pre-packed garlic when shopping.