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Coles customer hits out over common mince gripe – but is it fair?

Many Australians are worried about the rising cost of groceries, but some are clearly more concerned than others.

With inflation rising – and shoppers on guard for shrinkflation – one Coles customer has been quick to challenge the supermarket over the missing amount in her mince package after carefully weighing the product.

The woman shared a picture on Facebook of her Coles-brand mince on kitchen scales, which showed the item was a mere 20g less than the estimated weight of 800g.

"Ummmmm just wondering where the rest is Coles???" the customer complained.

Pictured is the Coles mince on the kitchen scale along with the Coles-brand packaging.
A Coles customer's mince was 20 grams underweight. Source: Facebook

When asked if she took into consideration the soak pads found in the packaging, which absorb the water from the meat, the customer said she weighed the paper in the packaging, claiming it accounted for just two extra grams.

While the complaint over the meagre variance prompted bemusement from some Facebook users, the woman is simply the latest in a long line of hyper-vigilant shoppers when it comes to mince and the actual amount that ends up in the packet.

Coles even apologised to the woman.

"We're sorry this has happened and we'd like to follow this up for investigation," the supermarket responded to the post.

"Will you say thank you to Coles when you get a packet that’s overweight?" chided one Facebook user.

Testing the true weight of supermarket mince

Following several complaints from customers who purchased mince at Australia's leading supermarkets — Yahoo News Australia decided to test whether customers were getting what they paid for.

The investigation found all of the mince Yahoo tested were actually overweight, with the Coles-brand mince coming in six grams overweight.

When asking readers in a poll if they ever had purchased underweight meat from a supermarket, only 27 per cent said yes.

Of the nearly 900 people who responded, 39 per cent said they had never had this problem, while 34 per cent admitted to not even considering this to be a problem.

Meat packages are allowed estimates

A Coles spokesperson previously told Yahoo News Australia that the instruments used to measure home brand products are tested regularly to ensure accuracy.

"We also require our suppliers to ensure their products comply with all measurement laws, and we remove products from sale if we find or are advised they are non-compliant," the spokesperson said.

"Household scales are not made to commercial standard and are generally not regularly checked for accuracy."

In Australia, the “e” after the weight indicates goods have been packed in accordance with the Average Quantity System (AQS), a spokesman for the National Measurement Institute previously told Yahoo News Australia.

It means there is some leniency with regards to how much a product might be off the estimated weight on the packaging.

Signage for a Coles Group supermarket is seen in Brisbane, Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
Following complaints from customers, Yahoo News Australia put mince to the test and found all that were tested were overweight. Source: AAP

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