Consumer cautions

Having been scammed on so many occasions in a supermarket, I feel compelled to share some basic tips on how to avoid being taken for a fool:

1. Don't buy prepackaged vegetables. The glossy, firm looking baby marrows on the top layer are cunningly concealing the yellowing, shrivelled second-grade marrows underneath. There is no way that it is not a deliberate act to put the inferior goods out of sight.

2. The same goes for meat. The top retailer in SA is as guilty as the rest of them. I bought a piece of steak which looked appetising and with minimal fat, only to find, on opening the pack, that the reverse side of the steak was basically the edge of the rump and mainly fat. Once again, absolutely a deliberate attempt to deceive.

3. Packaging is used to effect a price increase without increasing the price. Toothpaste is number one on the list, with the size of the tube being slightly reduced without changing the price so that it looks as though everything is the same. Old stock with the bigger tube is removed from the shelf so that there is nothing to draw the eye to a smaller quantity in the tube. The way to overcome this and reduce toothpaste sales is to only use the actual amount you need - adverts and the packaging show a lavish dollop of toothpaste covering the entire bristle section, but in actual fact, only a pea-sized amount of toothpaste is required to do the same job. Consumption can be reduced by 75% and you can leave the manufacturer wondering.

4. Bulk packaging is in general more expensive than regular sized products and a careful comparison of the price per unit of every size of pack will prove this, particularly in the domestic cleaning products. The "Great Value" printed on the pack is nothing but deliberate misinformation.

A little care and a good pair of glasses can save you quite a substantial amount over a period, as well as send a message back to the retailers that we are on to them!