Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Whole Foods reaches $500K settlement for alleged mislabeling, (Dec 29, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

Whole Foods Market has agreed to a $500,000 settlement with the New York Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), disposing of claims that Whole Foods mislabeled and “routinely overstated the weights of its pre-packaged products.”

In addition to the payment, the settlement requires Whole Foods to: (1) conduct quarterly in-store audits; (2) immediately remove mislabeled pre-packaged foods and, within 15 days, check the accuracy of that product’s pricing, as well as products from the same department; (3) implement and enforce policies and procedures requiring employees to individually weigh each package; and (4) conduct trainings for employees involved in weighing and labeling products.

Although Whole Foods acknowledged the settlement, the grocery chain claims that the DCA’s characterization of the agreement was incorrect.

“Unfortunately the DCA has misrepresented this agreement,” Whole Food’s statement commented. “[Whole Foods] has had in place preexisting pricing and weights/measures programs including a third party auditing and training program and a 100 percent pricing accuracy guarantee that gives customers a full refund on any item inadvertently mispriced. These are pre-existing programs that go above and beyond the DCA’s requirements. Furthermore, the DCA’s allegations of violations on weighted/measured items were limited to New York City, and as our joint agreement states, there was no evidence of systematic or intentional misconduct by anyone in the Northeast region or the rest of the company.”

The DCA announced in June 2015 that it was expanding its investigation into Whole Foods after determining that the company’s New York City locations were “routinely” overstating the weights of pre-packaged products, including meats, dairy, and baked goods.

Companies: Whole Foods Market

News: ConsumerProtection