www.GlynLowe.com / CC BY 2.0

The Whole Foods grocery chain said Monday it will pay New York City $500,000 to settle allegations that it overcharged customers for prepackaged food by mislabeling weights.

Associated Press reports via The Guardian:

The city had said in June that its investigation tested 80 different types of pre-packaged food at Whole Foods and found mislabeled weights on every one. The overcharging included $4.85 for a package of chicken tenders and $14.84 for coconut shrimp, the city said.

The investigation generated national headlines, prompting Whole Foods co-CEOs John Mackey and Walter Robb to apologize in an online video. Still, Whole Foods said the bad publicity ended up pinching sales.

Mackey had previously expressed bewilderment over why “Whole Foods was singled out for this attention”, saying that he does not think the company’s track record on the matter is any different from other supermarkets. The grocery chain had nevertheless said over the summer that it would take steps to prevent overcharging, including training for workers, and pledged to give away products if customers discovered they were mispriced.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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