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
Evana says
Do you really eat this antibiotic and hormone full chicken? I would suggest that you buy it only from a local and trusted farm, otherwise you do not know what you are eating.
rebecca says
I work at walmart and can tell you that the guy in the meat dept does nothing than pull your frozen chicken package out of a box and put it on the shelf they dont weigh them in store
CATHY says
I personally stay away from factory farmed chicken. Pretty disgusting.
Marlene says
I was thinking the same thing. Why do people save money on food? Unless you don´t pay the Farmer you got to pay the Pharma one day.
Heather says
Karrie – I have a small blog and live in a small town in Nevada. Walmart came into town in January 2013. I would love to reference this article on my blog. Would that be OK? I haven’t only been in there a few times (I am trying to go to the local stores) so I don’t have personal experience to refer to. Thanks.
Karrie says
You bet Heather! 🙂
Lora Morrison says
and it could be a simple thing like the weight machine they were using that particular day messed up too. I have worked for grocery stores over 20 yrs and at times them machines on occasion mess up. all chickens from every store isn’t packaged there. all chickens come in preweighed. no one cuts up chicken in the grocery stores any more. and you truly have to know what the tare weight on the package and they vary. I know walmart is walmart but don’t blame them for this one it’s not all their fault
C.Long says
Lora: get your facts straight. There are a large number or stores that still have meat counters and you can choose your chicken and have them weigh it in front of you.
krama says
“Contains up to 15% natural chicken broth.” This corresponds aproximately to the weight you measured without the meat.
Megan says
I previously worked in a Walmart meat department. I can honestly say, this was not a Walmart error. The price label that is on that package is the label that was on it from the processor. Walmart’s meat department didn’t have anything to do with pricing or weighing that meat. ALL of Walmart meats come in a Tyson box, so if it happened with their meat then it could happen with all the Tyson meat at any store. My guess is just what others have said through long explanations as to how it is processed. That meat was probably flash frozen after the sodium solution was put into it, then it was weighed, then sealed. Once at the store, the meat stays frozen until it goes out on the floor shelf. It then unthaws while waiting for a customer to purchase it, giving it the “fresh” look, even though it was frozen just a couple hours prior. Those juices that were in the packaging thing were included in the meat cost because at the time it was weighed, those juices were actually in the meat.
Now, here is a story to help you all realize that while yes, sometimes people do indeed forget to tare the scale and you may get “ripped off”, it also can go the other way. I have witnessed an employee that instead of doing .009 tare, put in .900 tare. It made it to the shelf this way and people were paying $1 for a $10 premium steak! Before out manager realized what was happening, a customer had shoved over $100 worth of steaks in his cart. Then the race was on to see who could grab more steaks faster, the customer or the manager. Our store lost huge on that one and that customer had some really good steaks for 10% of the price.
Cathy J says
I read your post recently and contacted Consumer Reports about. Today I received the following email from them:
Dear Ms. ………..,
Thank you for taking the time to contact Consumer Reports®. I want to express how much we value your choice of our products and services to help you make informed purchasing decisions.
We appreciate your writing to us regarding the package weight and pricing of chicken at Walmart and other grocery stores. Please be assured that our readers’ feedback plays a strong role in the work that we do. Because of this I have taken the liberty of sharing your feedback with the appropriate members of our staff for their review and future consideration.
Consumer Reports is committed to making your experience positive and informative.
Sincerely,
Patrick Burns
Representative
Customer Relations Department
I”m really looking forward to see what becomes of all this, should be interesting!
Sharry Baumgarten says
Grrrrrr. I am so glad you wrote this blog. I posted exactly this comment over a year ago about the 1Lb packaging walmart rip off on my facebook page. It is not an isolated issue, this is every tray. I shop in Texas, don’t know where you do, but, this is not an honest mistake. This is intentional theft. Makes my blood boil and no one is holding these guys accountable or calling them to the carpet on this. How many hard earned $ have they taken this way? When I complained to the store, they replaced my chicken with another tray with 1lb of broth yuck stuff. No apology and no change of policy. This is just plain wrong.
Pam Nealon says
I admit, I didn’t read EVERY post here, but I read many of them and it seems to me since Wal-Mart purchases “PREPACKAGED” meats then they too are being ripped off as they are purchasing that weight at one price and selling that SAME weight to us at a profit. Therefore, I believe that corporate would probably welcome the feedback as there are three issues in it for them ….. 1st they are being ripped off, 2nd they are ripping off their customers in return, and 3rd they are breaking the rules by selling meat with PACKAGING included in the pricing. Maybe it is human error, and maybe it is deliberate; but who is to say it’s WalMart doing the cheating, maybe they are being cheated as well. Think they would want to know.
sonya says
If you are concerned about the weight, also look at the fact that New USDA rule allows hidden feces, pus, bacteria and bleach in conventional poultry.
Buy ORGANIC chicken and problem solved.
Rosa52 says
I only buy or grow real food (organic or/and grass fed beef, chickens/pigs are fed organic feed and chickens are allowed to go peke at their hearts content. I buy from local farmers.
Rita says
I think you have to check all meats. I bought some sirloin hamburger from Safeway (I already have a dislike for Walmart) and usually their product is very good. When my hubby cooked it he noticed a large amount of”fat/grease”….almost a full cup. We have been cooking this 7% beef for nearly 10 years now and never once had a full cup of juice! Most of it “burns” off during the cooking process. So we called Safeway and even offered to bring the “fat/grease” in (they said not necessary). We complained that the labels must of gotten mixed up and they were selling 20% for 7%. They apologize and said that they didn’t package the meat (they got it shipped to them) which I knew was a half-fib. I did get our money back (which was half the price of the original amount plus 50% off that as it was a family pack that had been reduced). So check your meats and everything else for that matter…every penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar matters if you are trying to meet the needs of your budget.
Jennifer R says
What did customer service or the store manager say? I assume you did reach out to them before slandering their product on the internet. Allowing them a chance to make it right?
I certainly do not agree with it, however, there is a right and a wrong way to go about things.
kathy giordano says
I have worked in many mead depts @ grocery stores for 30 years. Any scale I have ever used has a set tare weight for the package. You can report them to the Dept of Agriculture, each package weighed wrong carries a high fine…
Trish says
Almost all of the meat and poultry at Walmart is either marinated tumbled or injected with solution (salt water) upwards of 25%, so you are paying for salt water instead of the protein. This will also lead to more liquid seepage in the package. All natural chicken found in most other stores does not have the salt water added. However, if the specific meat department case is too warm even natural meats and poultry will seep. All of the liquid is considered part of the purchase price and not tare. The only tare in all states now is “used dry tare” which is the tray dried off with a towel and the soaker pad squeezed out as much as possible…so even the liquid in the pad is part of the purchased weight. Obviously the package that was bought at Walmart was incorrect but Walmart generally purchases most of their meats in exact weights so all packages are the same price which can lead to this problem of some of them being underweight….need to complain at the store, if a serious problem inform the state weights and measures department.
Jackie Pearson says
I will just tell you that I have never had a good experience with the chicken from my local walmart, I have even taken it back shortly after I purchased it (had a cold, no sense of smell) got home with the chicken and my husband said what did you buy, when I replied chicken, he said take it back, it is bad. as I returned to the store, the manager said yes we seem to have a lot of problems with the meat in this store not being processed correctly and returned my chicken. my thoughts as I left is really you know you have a problem, yet you continue to sell this meat to people, who can get sick, or even die….. well I only shop there now for other things, but never do I buy their meat
Allen Russ says
Buy them frozen and you won’t have to worry about it
Vee says
Good eye, girl!! Thanks for the heads up. Seems we get cheated around every corner.
Michele says
I will only buy chiken at my co op, because they carry chicken from a local farm that I know very well. I won’t buy meats injected with “stuff”. You can never tell what that “stuff” really is! I will pay more for grass-fed beef and only eat it every other month or so. The chicken is in my freezer all the time.