CSPI launches attack against half empty food packs

US regulations allow manufacturers to leave some air in food packs to protect the contents but only to the extent that it serves this purpose or is unavoidable because of the way the food settles.

The CSPI accuses food manufacturers and regulators of not appearing overly concerned with the spirit of these regulations, and is therefore calling on the FDA and the State Attorneys General to launch a crack down.

Slack fill ​

The public interest group argues that the practice of leaving packs partially empty, called slack fill in the industry, is all too often used to deceive consumers into believing that their shopping baskets are fuller than they really are.

“It would be disheartening, even shocking, if it weren’t so commonplace,”​ said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “But as consumers we’ve almost come to expect that our food packages will be half full of food and half full of air. ​

“Slack fill is just one trick that food marketers employ to make us thing we’re getting more for our money than we are.”​

In addition, the CSPI argues that there are environmental costs.

“If food companies cut packages of Ginger Snaps or Hamburger Helper in half, what now takes two trucks to ship would only take one,”​ added Jacobson.

Industry reaction​

Giving an industry view from a European perspective, Dick Searle, the chief executive of the Packaging Federation in the UK, said the reasons for what appears to be excess packaging are poorly understood.

Searle said empty space is left in crisp packets and cereal packs to prevent the food from being crushed and not to deceive the consumer. Indeed, he said that in Europe there are regulations in place that make it illegal to pack to deceive.

In addition, there is essential requirement legislation in the EU that demands that companies keep packaging to a minimum subject to consumer acceptance, but it is only enforced in the UK, France, and the Czech Republic.