For the past few years I have purchased my boneless skinless chicken breasts from places like Albertsons, Costco and every once in awhile even Walmart.
The last few times I have come home from Walmart with a package of chicken breasts I got this feeling like something just wasn’t right.
The styrofoam package and the little juice-soaker-upper thingy (I know… real technical) felt almost as heavy as the chicken breasts inside. I had this nagging feeling that I was getting ripped off.
So last week when I brought home another package of chicken from Walmart I decided to go with my gut and actually weigh the chicken and package.
In the store the price said $2.09 per lb. That’s an okay price – I usually get better deals at Zaycon.
Here is the package I brought home.
I paid $10.74 for the package. It says there is 5.14 lbs of chicken inside. At $2.09 per lb the price is correct.
So the first thing I did was to set the whole package on the scale to see if it was 5.14 lbs.
Ummm…nope! It weighs 4.938 lbs. So right there the price is off. I measured a few other items to make sure my scale was accurate first and it was.
I did read on the packaging it says “Contains up to 15% natural chicken broth.” I was assuming that it was injected into the chicken breasts or something, but I noticed a TON of chicken juices in this package. I think that is kind of weasly, don’t you?
Next I decided to take out all the chicken and see how much that weighed by itself.
This is all the chicken in the package. I tared the scale and then put the chicken on the scale.
3.97 lbs.
I knew it. Oh the humanity. I was irritated and annoyed at this point. I should have only paid $7.92 for this package at $2.09 per lb.
Still, I wanted to weigh just the package and juice-soaker-upper thingie.
This weighed almost exactly ONE pound.
So…that $2.09 per pound price is now $2.71 per pound.
Sneaky sneaky packaging.
I feel cheated. Duped. Bamboozled (yeah, I just went there. ) I wanted to run to my computer and share this all right away. But I was nervous. I mean posting online that I was ripped off at Walmart? What if I got the Oprah treatment? (sued)
Well, just in case, I will leave this little disclaimer…this problem may have only been at my local store and not chain wide.
One Week Later
I bought chicken again, this time I happened to be at Winco. The chicken was priced at $2.09 per lb again.
On the package it says it should be 4.04 lbs, but it was actually 4.15 lbs! Way to go Winco…you actually considered the weight of the packaging!
When I weighed the chicken it was spot on at 4.04 lbs. Their styrofoam package was not nearly as heavy as the Wally world one. Sheesh.
So anyways, I was going to say to always avoid these kinds of packages and just go for either the frozen bags at Costco or fresh from a deli. But Winco surprised me that they actually are honest in their policies of weighing the meat. (Big slow clap for Winco!)
As for Walmart – I didn’t call customer service or complain to them in store. We ate the $3.00 lb. chicken and it was tasty. No problems in the quality of the product, the problem I have is the jacking up of the price because of the packaging dishonesty.
I plan on going in again with my scale and see if it happens again. And if it does I will complain.
So watch out for chicken cheats and always try to get what you paid for because if you’re not careful you may end up paying over two dollars for a piece of slimy chicken juice packaging.
Oh and question everything my friends. If you feel something is wrong, it probably is.
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Karen Bush says
You need to report this incident to your state’s consumer protection folks because this isn’t just a ripoff, it’s a violation of (probably several) state laws. States have very specific rules in places about weights and measures and they have to certify scales at establishments that sell things by weight every year.
Kenny says
If the Wal-Mart chicken was actually packaged by Tyson (and the yellow container along with the yellow/red price label leads me to think it probably is), then that came in pre-sealed and pre-priced. Chicken, by and large, is not packaged and priced inside the meat department (unless you’re going to an old school butcher shop). As a matter of fact, be careful about buying chicken in a chain store if it appears to have been packaged there. More than likely, it is chicken that reached expiration date and was checked to see if it had spoiled yet. When it was determined not to be spoiled, it was repacked in hopes of not losing money.
Laurie says
Nothing surprises me from Walmart. They makes hundreds of thousands of dollars and rip us off every chance they get!!!
Cheryl Ann says
Well, in California, and I believe nationally, what WallyMart is doing is ILLEGAL. Stores HAVE to consider the weight of the packaging. My husband was in retail marketing for YEARS. That could be a hefty fine for WalMart and you SHOULD report them. No wonder they are raking in $$$$$$ of dollars! Department of Weights and Measures, I believe (hubby is asleep…)
Jesse says
You hid the branding part of the label on both packages, but from the looks of the first one it looks like Always Save brand which is an IGA brand. Wal-Mart doesn’t carry it since they are not part of the IGA.
Could you try redoing your pictures, but this time without folding the price sticker to hide the brand/store?
wil says
As soltball deceptive as this is, I don’t think it’s illegal. As the package states, your buying the chicken AND the “broth” so they would naturally weigh the water- I mean broth – along wit the chicken. It’s not any different than buying watered down soup or a fountain softdrink that’s filled to the brim with ice. There’s really two solutions- don’t buy from walmart – don’t buy pre packaged
Connie says
It IS illegal to NOT take away the ‘tare’— the weight of the styrofoam & the lining. The downside would be– the lining DRY does not weigh hardly anything at all– as its designed to soak up juices. Call your county health inspector with your findings. They’re the only ones to get Walmart to listen.
Not much you can do about them adding so much broth and charging the same as the chicken itself–as it IS on the label.
Another reason i do not shop at walmart. working on a year now–two if i hadn’t had to go there after midnight on an emergency. Why should I buy inferior goods, made in China, from a company that built their business on “Made in America”?
Friendly Stranger says
I recognize that package… I use to work at the factory that made those. In fact, they are injected with juice, however that much juice in the package is wrong. There should never be that much. Last I knew, that was against regulation. HOWEVER….it’s been a few years since I worked in poultry thus, it could have changed. Something you could check into is contacting the USDA. I know for a fact that the factory that packages the very chicken you got ripped off for, has several (or should) USDA workers watching around the clock, although things are still snuck by them.
If you’d take a tidbit from a stranger, I would NOT buy those packages for my family. They are made by a large corporation that I would trust as much as I could pick up the factory and throw it. If you want to know who packages those chickens, look in the same area for the same tray, different clear film. You should easily find your answer…..at my local store, the entire chicken area is filled with their logo.
Also, IF you do buy some….check it over thoroughly. If there is bloody spots on / in the chicken, it is NOT “A” grade, and in all likelihood, it’s packaged as “A” grade. Take a pic, and call the number on the packaging.
Hope this helps….
FS
Karrie says
Wow – that officially scares me a bit.
Susan C. says
I’ve had this happen with ground beef too. I always buy the big package and then repackage it into 1-lb. bags for the freezer. It never comes out to be the same as what the package says–always less.
Melissa says
I noticed this too!
christine says
i have found in the past that chicken from Walmart cooks down a ton!! by the time you have it fully cooked it’s sitting in a pool of water.Only bought it a couple of times before i realized i was paying for frozen water.No more walmart chicken for me.
Liana says
I refuse to buy chicken at Walmart, it has a nasty texture. My son works for Walmart and he said that the chicken comes to Walmart frozen, it will unfreeze and then they will freeze it again. I like buying my chicken either at WinCo or the Commissary. I just do not like the texture of Walmart chicken, I try no to buy any meat from Walmart once in a great while I will buy hamburger but that is about it.
Julie says
You might try checking the price of pet food at Dollar General. It is often cheaper than Walmart. In fact, a lot of their stuff is cheaper than Walmart. It’s also quicker. I can park at the door and be in and out in minutes.
I never buy meat at Walmart. I buy very little there. I have a local store with a fantastic meat counter and fresh midwestern grown meat. I watch the sales and get better quality and decent prices. I don’t have to worry about water injected into chicken that way (Or pink slime and ice in ground beef).
Allen Russ says
If you compare the price per ounce/ per pound DG gets real expensive
Wayne says
Yeah, at DG it depends on what you buy, I usually buy all mu cleaning products there for house and body as well as my paper towels and bath tissue. But that’s about it, unless it is some kind of a good sale I don’t buy food products at DG. I also have to say when they first came here you could make out like a bandit on anything at DG and they were always packed. But that didn’t last long until they got just like all the rest.
Even the everything for a dollar stores aren’t always that good a deal as some of the stuff they sell for a dollar you can get for less at a regular store.
Todd Lester says
While I do agree that Wal-mart was way off, try this. Weigh yourself at night, and then again in the morning. The slight variance with WINCO was likely due to the gravitational forces and positioning of the moon. You will weigh less in the morning than you do at night and that is likely the difference for the slight variance in WINCO chicken.
jo ann says
one thing more to avoid – chicken injected with that 15% solution, you are paying for salt water, which oozes out into the packaging, always check the label for sodium content to avoid it. , it adds some juiciness, but a few ounces of that weight is not chicken.
watch out for pork, too. you can always brine it yourself.
Super44 says
Just a little fact: 90-95% of the people who work for Wal-Mart live in poverty. Watch the video “The high Cost of Low Prices”. It’s all about Wal-Mart and how crooked they really are. Mention the word Union in Wal-Mart and see what happens.
Ann Killam says
OMG. I am so happy for this article. I normally shop at our local Meijers and chicken prices are better. I noticed this week that there seemed to be more “juice” in the packaging. So after reading this article I weighed a chicken package and sure enough almost 3/4 of a pound of juice, packaging etc. I will be sure to check my packaging better from now on and making sure I don’t see all that extra juice. Thank you so much.
Terry Rayburn Mitchell says
I appreciate this info and will heed it. One thing, though: If you don’t let Walmart know that they’ve cheated you, you’re allowing them to continue cheating others who aren’t as diligent about packaging and such as you are. Also, every letter of complaint I’ve ever sent has yielded, at the very least, a reply. Most often I receive free coupons or other merchandise: I once got a $50 gift certificate to a favorite restaurant where I’d had one truly bad meal. My motto, which is lame, at best, has become “If you don’t complain, you can’t complain.” And you don’t have to do it in person; a letter or even an e-mail will make a difference. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be cowed by big corporations like Walmart; they, too, are in business only because of their customers’ goodwill (which I don’t, for a moment, understand).
Marty says
This is highly illegal and you should report them to the state you live in weights and measures office (yes there are people that check this)
Kaitlin Evony says
an easy way to help prevent being overcharged for your prepackaged meat is to only buy what was packed there at the store. i work in a meat department that sells both prepacked chicken from tyson and chicken that is cut and packed there at the store. a lot of the time the prepacked stuff from tyson comes in half frozen. it’s not pretty when it thaws, way too much liquid.
Devin says
I work at Stop And Shop as a Seafood Manager and I can say when i punch in a code for a specific fish my digital scale has a tare value for the weight of the styrofoam tray and the white diaper (that soaks up any juices) Stop And Shop and I’d imagine Walmart gets audited yearly with their scales the auditer will weigh the styrofoam tray and diaper and test a package out in the case to see if the weight is correct. I can attest that I never ripped off any customer and had them pay for our supplies (the tray and diaper) and only the fish in the package!