JOUR POUND OF JAM.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 219, 13 September 1923, Page 4

JOUR POUND OF JAM.

: "NOT LESS THAN 14 OZS." WHY NOT THE ILB. NET ? , - JAM MANTfFACriJRERS EXPLAIN*. ' "A tin of jam, please!" 1 "One pound or two pound," asks the ' grocer, with a slight degree of grammatical inaccuracy. "One pound, please.' f But you don't get one pound weight, I which—or so at least we were taught • in school—equals 16 ounces avoirdupois. You get a tin guaranteed to contain •not less than 14 ounces." Many people do not worry their heads about weights and measures. They take their "pound ' , ■■ of jam and go off content. But there are come whom the high cost of living : has stirred to wrath over the slightest • suspicion of being "got at," and, like Shylock, they demand their actual pound : whether it be of flesh or jam, and it is this particular class of person which has stirred the Health Department into | agitating for the "lib net.' To test the actuality of the "14oz net," a "Star" reporter visited a Queen Street grocery this morning, where a friendly assistant weighed two of the "pound"' ] tins in question. That of one firm weighed 17oz gross; that of another ( ITJoz. It being evident to even the amateur eye that one of these small tins ; in itself was unlikely to weigh as much , as 3Joz, the pressman went to the firm . of Thompson and Hills and sought further information, with a request that it. ■ should be explained to him how and ; when it camp about that the table of : weights had been altered to reduce one ; pound avoirdupois to the equivalent of i I I4oz Both partners assured the inquirer i that they hadn't been guilty of upset- ] ting the system, and pointed to a sample tin on the" table, which set forth the pre- ; cautious warning, "Not less than 140z." Said they: "There it is in plain print. The public know they are buying 'not less than 140z,' and in the case of the double-sized tin not less than 2Soz." l WHERE FOURTEEN IS FIFTEEN. 1 j Xot for a moment disputing the manu- J factnrers* word regarding the* giving of. generous weight, the pressman consid- ; ered that an ocular demonstration would be putting the matter beyond all doubt, however, and or. intimating his desire. | it was readily acceded to. Two "not | less than 14oz" tins were taken from the factory shelves, and an empty tin was also brought to judgment. One full tin contained quince, the lightest, and the other strawberry, one of the heaviest of jams. The weight of the quince was 17 and 9-lOths ounces, and that of the strawberry, 18 and 2-10ths ounces. The empty tin weighed 2 and !)-10ths ounces. Thus it will be seen that the purchaser of "not less than 14oz" really gets from 15 to 15 and 2-lOtha ounces when lie has paid for only. 14ozs—unless he has purchased under the impression j that he has, in the words of the retailer, < paid for a "lib tin." j AN* IRRITATING ANOMALY. < This question is one of those anoma- ' lies which continually irritate the minds -' of the careful purchasing public, how- £ ever, and if the public, in the words of s the manufacturer quoted, "really want"' ? their jam (or any other commodity ' usually sold by the "pound") put up in ' J lib net tins or jars, there appears to Ibe no reason why those who supply the article should not oblige the cus- J tomers. Given sufficient time to effect * the change, and provided that all manu- r facturers were required to do the sa'rae. j the Auckland firm named stated that they would have no objection to the change, apart from the cost that would t have to be incurred in altering maehin- j t cry. Probably the public would have to j pay this cost in the end (though this is j t not the statement of the manufactur- j j ers), but, anyway, when people asked j for a pound of jam thereafter, they % would have the satisfaction ot knowing • that they would be getting a pound ] weight—and perhaps a little ovt-r. t WHY 14OZ EQUALS ILB. > "I have been thirty years in the jam * industry, and this matter has been thrashed out by the Health Department ' time after time: in fact, they bring it up ! every two or three years," safd Mr. Thompson. "But there is no law in New Zealand to compel a man to put up a certain weight, such as 'lib net.' which , many people appear to want; so long as he prints on the wrapper or label the minimum net weight oi the article, lie . complys with the law. Jam has been put into 14oz cans in New Zealand for • ' the last forty years, so people are well acquainted with the fact by now—ur. if 1 \ they are not, they ought to be. The I \ Australian Government has been trying I 1 to bring about the 'lib net,' but has" not | 1 ; been abfe to do so. Personally, if the ; . , people really want tins containing one j \ ■ pound net weight we are not against I giving it to them." i "Well, why don't you give it?" asked I the pressman. "One of the doctors of the Health De- ! partment asked mc that very question " '' replied Jlr. Thompson, "and" I told him ] that the change would cost us £1000: but on thinking the matter over. I believe it would cost nearer £2000. Our canning : machinery cost us over £10.000. and the ' dies, bodies, flanges, and labelling appa- i ratus would all have to be altered also the size of the eases. Then, if w e increased the weight we would also have to increase the price. In the '14oz net' we allow a good margin over, so as to be o-i i the safe size: we would have to do the I same with full pound tins." | 1 1 i;