POTATO PACKING

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 April 1937, Page 2

POTATO PACKING

FRAUDULENT PRACTICES

[PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

WELLINGTON. April 28.

“Serious complaints were made by witnesses who gave evidence before the committee, particularly those representing the retail trade against the unsatisfactory state in which potatoes are commonly offered for sale,” states the report of the Fruit Marketing Committee, which was released to«day. “The complaints were not only supported by extensive evidence, depicting numerous .instances of fraudulent packing, but were also illustrated in many cases by actual specimens showing the faulty character of the pack and the manner in which potatoes were secreted in the package to the deception of the buyer. “In addition to deceptive packing, the practice of selling large, small, illshaped, and fork-injured potatoes under the designation of first or second grade is only too common. It- is alleged that this applies to such an exten that retailers almost invariably have to pick over their purchases before offering them for sale to the consumer, causing a loss either to the retailer or to the purchasing public because of the readjustment in price. Not only are many potatoes offered for sale thickly coated with mud, but in many instances the amount of dirt left in the sack after the potatoes had been removed suggests that it was wilfully placed there. The weight of such soil has, at times, amounted to 361 b in a sack of 1801 b.

“The general opinion of the trade is that the time has arrived when New Zealand, in common with many other potato-growing countries of the world, where in some instances the practice has. been in vogue for many years, should have compulsory grading standards, together with the appropriate marking of packages, for potatoes.”