Shopper asks 'how is this okay' after discovering what 'e' symbol means

An Aldi shopper has been angered after learning the true meaning of the 'e' symbol on food products.

The 'e' mark, appearing on a wide range of items including crisps, has been spotted by shoppers as a potential indicator that they might be paying more for less product. One woman took to Facebook to share her revelation after she uncovered the true meaning of the symbol following a purchase of a bag of crisps from an Aldi store in Australia.

She conducted her own experiment and discovered that the 230g bag of crisps contained only 139g of actual crisps. The mum shared a photo of her findings and questioned: "How is this okay at all? [We] try to save money by buying from Aldi, but we don't even get the amount on the packet!

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"More than two-thirds of the packet was air - hence why I decided to check it... I put the whole bag with chips in it on the scales first and it was 157g." After weighing the crisps outside of the packet, she was shocked to find they weighed 139g instead of the advertised 230g.

One person pointed out that the 'e' on the bag signifies that the volume or weight of the product is actually an "average value", reports the Mirror. According to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the Average Quantity System (AQS) should not exhibit such significant discrepancies.

The department's website clarifies: "The AQS is an internationally agreed method of determining the size or quantity of pre-packed articles with a 'constant nominal content'. This means it provides confirmation of the measurement or quantity of goods in the package, being sold by measure (weight, volume, length, area or number)."

It further notes that "no pre-packaged article can have a shortfall greater than 5% of the stated quantity." Customers expressed their dissatisfaction, with one Australian Facebook user writing: "That isn't an estimation, though. "

Another said: "Not getting what you pay for is a joke and being so far off the 'e' weight is just ridiculous." EU regulations mandate that prepackaged products sold within any EU member state must clearly indicate the nominal quantity of the contents on the packaging, as per the official European Union website.

They detail that the 'e' mark, "placed next to the nominal quantity, shows that you have complied with the relevant European laws". The ECHO has contacted Aldi for a statement.

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