Weight measurement for baked goods – controls: around ten percent of the breads are too light – news

• The Federal Institute for Metrology (Metas) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) have determined that in 2022, 11.3 percent of companies sold bread that was too light.
• In addition, a number of bakeries and confectioneries as well as affiliated tea rooms were not so precise with the price information.
• The number of incorrect establishments remained the same as when the control was carried out ten years ago. The cantonal authorities are now keeping a closer eye on the affected companies.

The weights of the loaves were checked by the verification officers in the cantons and in Liechtenstein. According to the leading Metas, 9,000 loaves of bread were weighed in at 439 bakeries and gas station shops. Bread was too light in 14.4 percent of artisanal bakeries, 10.4 percent in industrial companies and 5.7 percent in gas station shops.

The Seco had the price addresses of bakeries, confectioners and affiliated tea rooms checked. 22 cantons checked 1214 shops. They found incomplete or incorrect price information in 16 percent of the bakeries with tea rooms. Four percent did not provide any information at all.

Criminal charges in six cases

Inside the shops, 36 percent of the bakeries and confectioneries inspected had incorrect price markings and one percent were missing them. In the shop windows, 22 percent of the companies wrote that the prices were inadequate. Seven percent exhibited their products without a price.

The cantons mostly attributed the shortcomings to a lack of knowledge about the Price Disclosure Ordinance. Criminal charges were filed in six cases. This is mostly because the companies did not comply with the regulations despite the determination of defects, instruction and a deadline.