A year after a CBC News investigation found two of Canada's biggest grocers were overcharging for underweight meat, they promised to fix it. But when CBC's Safiya Harris visited several stores in the spring, she found consumers were still paying more for less.
The problem was first exposed a year ago. That investigation found several stores owned by Sobeys and Loblaw, Canada's two largest grocers, were overcharging customers for underweight meat, and both said they fixed the problem.
This time, CBC set out to see whether that promise had held. Reporters checked multiple Sobeys and Loblaw affiliated chains in Vancouver, Halifax and the Greater Toronto Area to find out whether shoppers were getting all that they were paying for.
The tests again turned up a gap between the label and the scale. In one case, a shopper was paying for 452 grams but was actually only getting 412 grams of meat.
One customer's experience helped illustrate how it happens. Karen Weber, a retired school principal, goes shopping every year for a big family dinner for her son's birthday, and last year she bought four beef briskets from the Loblaw-owned Real Atlantic Superstore.
After watching CBC's earlier investigation, she decided to check the weight of what she had bought. The weight of the Superstore packaging seemed to have been included in the price.
She raised it with the store rather than letting it slide. Weber alerted staff, telling them she wasn't complaining but just wanted to help, and the store manager apologized, assured her the problem would be fixed and even gave her a free brisket to thank her.