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
Sarah says
The real issue is that overly processed boneless skinless chicken breast should not cost $2 a pound to begin with. While I try to avoid buying anything from Wall-mart to begin with. We have a completely distorted view of how much food should cost. In reality if you take in to account how much it cost to raise a chicken that price makes no sense, especially considering everything that went into growing, processing, packaging, and shipping the chicken to the store and the grocer needs to turn a profit as well. clearly $2/lb does not cut it.
While I do not agree with the practice of miss representing what the grocer is selling I think there are greater issues that need to be considered.
Orlando says
I would say that your biggest problem is that you are buying CHEAP meat and actually consuming it!!!! $2.00 per pound of meat is absolutely INSANE! I can’t even begin to guess what kind of crap they are injecting those chickens with and the fact that people actually EAT that crap is just boggling
Terra says
Ok. I know that a kajillion people have commented, and I didn’t read them all. So it may have already been said. But the real kicker for me is not the solution, or the packaging, but the fact that the WHOLE thing weighed less than the sticker stated for the weight of the meat. That is the part that’s just plain WRONG!
Donna says
That’s like that at every store NOT JUST WALMART!! Every store has those soak pads in the meat trays, of course you just have to mention Walmart! Not Krogers ect….
Karrie says
Yep, well Walmart and Winco is where I went…did you read the post? Winco did NOT overcharge for the packaging.
Erin says
You know what’s wrong? Eating animals that were violated for your un-necessary pleasure and consumption. Stop promoting animal cruelty. Having your throat slit is cruel. Living your entire life indoors, in shit and darkness is cruel. Getting over-priced for a product of violation is not exactly something I have sympathy for.
Edible Tapestry says
This has never occurred to me. Thanks for sharing!
My gripe with Walmart chicken has always been that in any of the three stores I have purchased these exact packages of breasts sold as fresh meat, they have been icy on the underside, which makes me wonder if they were pre-frozen. Yet nowhere on the packaging or the meat case signs have I seen anything that labels them as previously frozen, though I may not have looked hard enough when I’ve searched for confirmation. I simply don’t buy them any longer.
Maegan says
Any update on this? Have you checked on any other Walmart chicken packs?
peggy says
This is alarming news on a Dr Oz episode.
http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/buyer-beware-chicken-china
Laura says
I have noticed the same thing in the past with their ground beef. I buy a bigger package, then separate into 1 pound sizes to bag & freeze. Twice the amount I purchased was less than stated. Just one of the many reasons I no longer shop at Walmart.
Selia says
A chain in the PNW called Fred Meyer got in trouble for including the packaging in the weight a number of years ago.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002097696_webmeat22.html
Selia says
But I think they only can’t include the dry weight of the package. Wetness from leaking fluid is considered part of the poultry.
Amanda says
I also quit grocery shopping at Wal-mart, not for this reason, but at King Soopers for store brand items I typically spend $100 less per week than when I shopped at Wal-mart for Wal-mart’s store brands. Also when buying chicken legs at Wal-mart, on more than one occasion there were still feathers on them. yuck
Danny says
Is it really out of the question for a store to charge you for the container and the product? Those containers do cost money you know… I hate TheWalmart with a passion, but I’ve never understood why people think the packaging for products should be free. Would you rather scoop the raw chicken up off a dirty counter top, put it in paper wrapping, and “hope” no bugs get in it on your way home? Seems to me that an extra $2.09 to ensure that your family doesn’t end up in the ER with food poisoning is probably worth it.
April says
This bugs me bc #1…it is not directly benefiting whomever packed that chicken to rip us off…#2 there are procedures in place to pack the honest way! So, that means either whomever packed it was taught a different procedure (which is in return ripping us off) or they are just plain lazy & therefore guesstimated at the chicken. Either way, this problem should be brought to their attention so that it can be addressed! Thanks for the article!! 🙂
Adam says
Walmart likely got sued for a 5 lb chick3n falling thru flimsy Styrofoam so they now make them heavy duty
Dawn says
What did Walmart say about this inaccuracy?
Craig says
I don’t spend much at Walmart anymore, nor anywhere else… Almost everytime I shop at Walmart I get “price-gouged” or cheated. One price at the shelve and a higher price at the cash register. I noticed the managers so many times yet they continue this practice of price cheating. Plus Walmart rarely has dividers for customers thus sometimes confusing different people’s goods and wasting time. What a shitty and depressing place to shop at. I only go there to buy same stuff cheaper, but lately i keep my savings in the bank and don;t spend much as I do not support current politics and economics of large corporations and the government spraying of chemtrails.
Mirandy says
I would get a bread maker and some camping gear for my ever growing Scout! Thank you for all you do to help us all save some money and still staying true to yourself!!!
carol johnson says
This is why buy my meat at a meat market. I have determined that I pay no more by buying from a local meat market (who has been around for some 30 years), than I do from buying at the chain stores. I also don’t buy from stores that say they will meet the price of other stores – THEN WHY DON’T YOU JUST PRICE YOUR ITEMS THE SAME AS OTHER STORES???? Milk is my biggest complaint. I can buy milk at Aldi’s for $1.89 a gallon, at Walgreens for $2.29 a gallon, and yet it is $3.09 most of the time at Walmart. Biggest rip off around. Ever since Sam Walton turned the business over to the sons, they have gone downhill. Eventually it will catch up to them. Too bad. They started out with all the right ideas.
Lori says
Ok I’m not saying that Walmart is right or that you are lying but if you are going to post pictures of the scale with the meat and package and then say you weighed other things on the scale so you know for sure the scale was on you could have showed pictures of the various things you weighed to back up what you are saying. When you buy chicken you are paying for the chicken and any juices whether they are natural or artificial stuff injected. Is it great that they are injecting stuff in the meat we buy and feed our families? No, but unless you are willing to pay extra for the organic or buy local or raise and slaughter the animals instead this is what you are getting. We are not supposed to pay for what the packaging weighs, but when you weighed the package and the chicken together and got one weight then weighed the chicken by itself you had a pound difference. What you didn’t factor in were all the juices that were soaked up into the packaging. The packaging does not weigh one pound. The packaging is actually pretty lightweight. Now when you actually look at your numbers they don’t all add up right and that is what makes me wonder if your scale is right or if the scale didnt weigh correctly because the package was hanging off of the scale and it wasnt centered. The whole package weighed 4.938 pounds and the chicken was 3.97 pounds after you tared the scale for the weight of the bag you put the chicken in and the weight of the packaging that the chicken originally came in with the pad soaked with juices was 0.994. When you add 3.97 to 0.994 you get 4.964, but wait you said that the whole package 4.983 and that is less than what the chicken weighed plus what the packaging weighed. Like I said at the beginning of my post this doesn’t mean Walmart is totally right but not everything you are saying adds up either plus you are not taking the weight of the juices into account for the total weight of the chicken.
Michele Heitner-Brabender says
The Winco chicken does look like it has a lot of fat to trim though. I’d be curious what that would weigh.