Dear Chagrined Consumer:
I was thinking yesterday about the downsizing of packaging in food products (honest, Sankes, I was!). Yes, particularly ice cream AND my liquid laundry detergent.
But were you aware of false bottoms? I've known of them since childhood.
Perhaps it was from reading Vance Packard's THE HIDDEN PERSUADERS. I'll have to check it out ...
CoCo in-a-box
Extracts from the
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
of California
PERTAINING TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE DIVISION
OF MEASUREMENT STANDARDS
ยง 12606. FALSE BOTTOM, ETC., PROHIBITED: CONTAINERS NOT TO BE
NONFUNCTIONALLY SLACK FILLED: SEIZURE OF CONTAINER: CONDEMNATION
OF CONTAINER: RETURN OF CONTENTS OF CONDEMNED CONTAINER
(a) No container wherein commodities are packed shall have a false bottom, false
sidewalls, false lid or covering, or be otherwise so constructed or filled, wholly or partially,
as to facilitate the perpetration of deception or fraud.
(b) No container shall be made, formed, or filled as to be misleading. A container that
does not allow the consumer to fully view its contents shall be considered to be filled as to
be misleading if it contains nonfunctional slack fill. Slack fill is the difference between the
actual capacity of a container and the volume of product contained therein. Nonfunctional
slack fill is the empty space in a package that is filled to less than its capacity for reasons
other than the following:
(1) Protection of the contents of the package.
(2) The requirements of machines used for enclosing the contents of the package.