NEW YORK – New York City’s consumer agency says Whole Foods supermarkets have been routinely overcharging customers by overstating the weight of prepackaged items.
The city’s Department of Consumer Affairs said Wednesday it tested 80 different types of pre-packaged products and found mislabeled weights on every one. It said the overcharges ranged from 80 cents for a package of pecan panko to $14.84 too much for coconut shrimp.
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Whole Foods said it disagrees. It accused the department of making excessive financial demands to settle the dispute.
City officials said their findings suggest that many Whole Foods packages were never weighed at all.
They said in some cases, every package of a product was labeled with exactly the same weight. They say that would be nearly impossible with foods such as vegetables and seafood.
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