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8.0 SUPERMARKET AND GROCERY STORE SCAMS AND COMPLAINTS

Don't judge a book or cereal box by it's cover. Pretty pictures, packaging, and store design are often deceptive.

== Products with foreign sounding names, especially with gilt lettering will cost more. The name and lettering are supposed to mean expensive quality, but is it really? Packages with ribbons, melted wax stamps or paper wrapping will cost extra for the same reason.

== Pretty pictures and colorful packaging design are often used to fool the customer. Legally a company cannot say a product is something it isn't. However, a picture can give a very different impression even though the correct content information is right there on the package. For example, the "blueberry waffles" with plump blueberries pictured on the front and back of the package, did not have any real blueberries only artificial! You often have to read the label very carefully.

New food products or "new & improved" products can be the worst offenders. Spin-off products of trusted labels frequently count on customers to rely on their familiar name brand. In fact, many of these have high amounts of sugar, fat and artificial flavoring. The situation has gotten so bad that some groups are calling for new government rules on food package labels.

== Juice/drink packaging is often deceptive. The pictures of ripe fruit can hide the fact that the drink is sugar water. For example, a juice drink aimed at young people gives the impression that it is healthy and full of vitamins. Reading the label reveals it's mostly water and corn syrup with a little orange juice (5%). The vitamins were added and would have been cheaper as pills.

== Larger costs less? Most people buy the big size out of habit, assuming it costs less. Consider this real world example: liquid dish detergent 22 oz. @ 98 cents or 42 oz. @ $1.94! Products packaged in odd sizes that are hard to compare lead most consumers to assume that larger costs less.

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