According to the company info. section Whole Foods Market claims to: “seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add to that the excitement and fun we bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what we’re all about. Oh yeah, we’re a mission-driven company too.”

On first appearance this may seem to be true, and in full disclosure your National Taoism Examiner does purchase some items from Whole Foods, however, it is quite alarming the number of times Whole Foods has been accused and caught falsely labeling items, overcharging customers and misleading people, among other accusations.

“…the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, which says it has uncovered ‘systematic overcharging for pre-packaged foods’ at the city’s Whole Foods stores… New York officials said that its investigation of 80 different types of pre-packaged products found none had correct weights, and that that 89% of packages violated federal rules for how much a package can deviate from actual weight. (CNN Money)”

You read correctly, 89% of the items tested violated federal rules with regards to accurate weight. What is the response from Whole Foods: they called the allegations “overreaching” and disagreed with the findings.

If this was the first time Whole Foods was found conducting business in this behavior, then one could possibly, pardon this as a mistake, or perhaps, a vendetta from city officials wanting to raise more revenue from taxes, fines, fees and over-regulation. Unfortunately, however, this is not the first occurrence for Whole Foods.

“In a class-action lawsuit filed in Missouri in April, plaintiffs charge that “evaporated cane juice” is just another healthy-sounding way of identifying sugar, and that by using such a euphemism on the ingredient label for its nutmeal raisin cookies, Whole Foods is engaging in false and misleading advertising, Food Navigator–USA reported. (Yahoo News)”

In a prior lawsuit filed in 2013, Whole Foods was accused of labeling baked goods as “all natural” when they in fact contained synthetic ingredients, in particular sodium acid pyrophosphate, as a leavening agent.

KTLA5 News, reported in June 2014, that Whole Foods agreed to settle ($800,000) with three California cities after allegations of widespread “price violations”. This suit, alleged that Whole Foods overcharged customers by selling products that weighed less then the label stated. Under the settlement Whole Foods did not admit guilt, but promised to charge accurate prices. Well, we should all feel better about that, but wait, they are being accused of the same thing again, this time in New York.

Merchants using accurate weights and measures, is one of the hallmarks and foundations of a proper economy, whether free market or heavily regulated. Without the assurance and trust from the customers that merchants are not willfully ripping them off and doing so in complete disregard for the law and the welfare of their fellow man/customers; incidents like this pose a great threat to the delicate fabric that binds the society together.

If you look at the core of any society, whether modern or ancient, you will see that the economy was first founded on proper weights and measures, and the trust that comes with that. Often, the founding fathers of civilizations, would write some of the first laws about regulating weights and measures. Also, in many of these civilizations, the punishment was far worse than “promising to charge accurate prices next time.” Really! Perhaps, we should let other crooks, thieves, scam artists, hucksters etc… just tell the judge and society, that they promise to behave better and will not commit the crime again. Oh, and the thief will try to improve over the next 5 years. 5 years!

When disregard for reason and the common welfare of man (aka the Golden Mean/Rule) are thrown out the window, what hope does society have? Perhaps, if the legal system does not properly punish companies that blatantly break the law, then society should, by shopping elsewhere.

It is interesting to note that Trader Joe’s does not charge by weight for produce or most items, instead posting per item pricing. Do you need a bag of potatoes? There is one price per bag. Need a loose item, an onion perhaps? You pay per item not per pound. It really is not that revolutionary of an idea, but perhaps more stores could do the same. Otherwise, we might need to start cracking open those “gold weights” to see if it is really lead or clay.

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