Whole Foods Probed For Overcharging In NYC

(RTTNews) - New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs said it has launched an investigation into Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) after finding that the company's New York City stores overcharged customers by routinely overstating the weights of its pre-packaged products. Whole Foods is a retailer of natural and organic foods.

The DCA tested packages of 80 different types of pre-packaged products and found all of the products had packages with mislabeled weights. The pre-packaged products include meats, dairy and baked goods.

In addition, 89 percent of the tested packages did not meet the federal standard for the maximum amount that an individual package can deviate from the actual weight, which is set by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"The overcharges ranged from $0.80 for a package of pecan panko to $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp," the DCA said.

The agency noted that its findings point to a "systematic problem" with how products packaged for sale at Whole Foods are weighed and labeled.

The overcharges were especially prevalent in packages that were labeled with exactly the same weight when it would be practically difficult for all of the packages to weigh the same amount.

These products included nuts and other snack products such as flavored almonds, pecan panko and corn nuts, berries, vegetables, and seafood.

DCA Commissioner Julie Menin said, "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."

The DCA said that to date, its inspections have focused on the eight Whole Foods stores that were open during the time of inspections. There are currently nine Whole Foods stores in New York City and the company reportedly plans to open an additional location in Harlem.

The fine for falsely labeling a package is as much as $950 for the first violation and up to $1,700 for a subsequent violation. The potential number of violations that Whole Foods faces for all pre-packaged goods in the NYC stores is in the thousands, the DCA noted.

A similar probe in California, which began in 2012, also found pricing irregularities in the state's Whole Foods stores. The company agreed to pay about $800,000 in penalties after a civil consumer protection case was filed on behalf of the people of the State of California.