the-BA : Are You Getting Enough?

Have you ever noticed an e near the weight or volume marked on packaging? Do you know what it means? If you bought a 500 ml bottle of cola or 25 g packet of crisps, and it actually contained a bit more, you wouldn’t complain. But what if it contained a bit less? Tough! The e mark means that, on average, the contents should not be less than the stated amount. So, you win some, you lose some.

Have you ever wondered how such regulations are monitored?

You might like to …

• find out what ‘negative tolerance’ is allowed (in other words, whether the legal minimum amount is, for example, 90% or 99% of the stated contents)
• check the mass of the contents of at least 10 packets of the same product, preferably more; think how you can do this without opening each packet (in the real world, manufacturers obviously can’t fill packets and then empty out the contents again to check them!); are any packets outside the negative tolerance?
• display the range of your results in suitable charts and diagrams; work out the mean and median; to which does e apply?
• repeat the exercise to check the volumes of a liquid product – again, without opening them all; you’ll need to think a bit more carefully about how to do this
• find out who is responsible for checking whether consumer products conform to the e rule.

Further links:
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/

www.northern.tradingstandards.org.uk/Guidance/W&M.htm

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