Bakeries con the public
2010-12-02
Lise Beyers
A BREAD bakery in Cape Town has been charged with fraud for supplying under-weight bread. This came to light after a complaint was received from Wellington shop owner, Shaun Wuister of Midway Superette, who realised that he was not receiving what he was paying for. “Most of my clients are in the extreme low income bracket and cannot afford to buy the bread of giants such as Sasko. Bread is the staple diet of many people in the area. “I have thus been sourcing more reasonably priced products, and have been buying my bread from Wholesome in Cape Town. But after becoming suspicious about the weight of the loaves, I started weighing them myself. “To my shock I came across loaves which weigh only 650g when the packaged weight indicates 700g.” Wuister sells up to 400 loaves of bread per day, and on weekends even more. “The bakeries are robbing the public when supplying under weighted bread” According to Wuister, this is not the first or the last time that he has had problems with bread suppliers. He also instituted legal action against Baked for You, a Paarl-based company, for allegedly baking and supplying short mass bread. Baked for You’s 600g bread loaves were found on average to weigh only 429g. According to the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) which is linked to the Department of Trade and Industries, suppliers of bread who are fleecing consumers out of millions of rands by providing less than the weight stated on the packaging, will be dealt with harshly. “There are many tricks suppliers are up to. Many producers and suppliers are contravening bread regulations across the country. This is a serious violation of the rights of consumers.” But according to Wuister, these companies are given a minimal fine and then it is back to business. “After my first complaint to Wholesome about their bread weights, I was told that they had difficulty with their machinery. They then said all had been repaired, but soon after that, their breads were again under weight. “Currently I do not trust any suppliers and have to spend hours weighing each loaf individually every day. The NRCS has said that the South African legislation is not effective in deterring bread suppliers, as well as other businesses from selling short massed products. They urge consumers to be vigilant and report perpetrators on 012-428-5000.
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