Episode 6 Rip Off Britain

There's a lot we don't know about the food on our plates,

and the shops and the labels don't always tell you the whole story.

Sometimes, when you have these offers on in the supermarket,

you think you're getting a good deal,

but if you're actually throwing it away, it's not a good deal.

Whether you're staying in or going out,

you've told us that you can feel ripped off by the promises made

from what you eat and indeed what you pay for it.

What really winds me up, I suppose,

is the price of so-called healthy food

compared with the unhealthy stuff.

The unhealthy stuff seems to be so much cheaper.

From claims that don't stack up, to the secrets behind the packaging,

we'll uncover the truth about Britain's food

so you can be sure you're getting what you expect at the right price.

Your food, your money - this is Rip-Off Britain.

Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain,

where today we're going to be ripping open the packets

and peeling back the labels on some of our most popular foods,

just to see if what it says on the tin is actually what

you're getting, and of course what you're paying for,

because, I have to say, in some cases,

it may not be the full story.

And how true is that?

Because how products are labelled and described can make

all the difference as to whether you want to buy them in the first place.

So if you've ever wondered if buying that bigger size really is worth it,

or you're completely frustrated when you discover that

a bumper packet of crisps seems to be more air and less potato -

as I think I have -

stand by for some tips to make sure that, next time you go shopping,

you're getting proper value for money.

Coming up, now we're all getting used to paying that 5p charge for

supermarket carrier bags, we'll see exactly who's getting the money.

We've had very, very few people complain because we make it clear

by the checkout where the money goes,

and if we say, "This 5p is going to Alzheimer's Research,"

who's going to argue?

And would you know how many of these foods

are fit for vegetarians to eat?

There's quite a lot here you'd give them, then?

-Most of it, I think.

-Yeah. Would you?

-Yes, I think so. Yeah.

-I'm wrong, aren't I?

-Yeah.

Next, something that's a real bugbear for a lot of you.

Now, we know from all the e-mails and letters we get about this

just how fed up some of you are

with the way that food packaging sometimes disguises

how little of the actual product might be tucked away inside.

That big box may contain as much air as the content you're supposed to

be getting for your money, which, depending on your point of view,

you've told us that you find it wasteful, misleading or indeed both.

So we've rounded up some products to get to the bottom of why the size of

the packaging doesn't always reflect

the amount of food that you're buying.

You may have experienced it yourself -

big packets of food you've bought at the supermarket that,

far from being filled to the brim,

turned out to be almost half-empty.

Normally, when you buy a large bag of potato chips,

you will find that,

by the time you've opened them up and the air has come out,

the bag is that full and not that full.

Some of the cereals you buy are three-quarters-full.

Crisp bags, they're half-full, sweet packets are half-full.

Full of air. All blown-up bags and when you open them,

the air comes out and there's nothing in them.

So, I went to a particular supermarket,

bought a lovely selection of cheeses,

but when I opened it up with all... with a lot of packaging.

When I opened it all up,

the majority of it was packaging.

Very small choices of cheese, so not good value for money.

I've had it with, like, cakes.

You know, they're in a massive box and there's polystyrene in it,

and then when you get to the cakes, there's hardly anything there.

Well, a number of you have written to us about exactly this subject

after being disappointed by the contents of

the packaging you've bought.

Wendy Rowland from Carmarthenshire for one.

She has coeliac disease -

an autoimmune disease affecting the digestive system.

There's not a lot of choice when it comes to coeliacs,

for breakfast cereals.

It's mainly cornflakes.

It's just cornflakes and more cornflakes.

When I saw the box of Tesco Special Flakes,

I thought, "Hmm, not a bad price. I'll give them a go."

I opened the box and I thought, "Oh, where's the inner bag?"

And I peered in and I thought, "Oh, that's a bit low."

So I pulled it out and I put it alongside like that

and I thought, "Well, surely they could have filled the box up

with more cereal, because I thought I'd got a box full of cereal."

When I hold the product up next to its box,

I just feel that, did it really need to go into such a big box?

I was certainly taken in by the size of the box.

I thought I was getting value for money,

but when I opened it up I realised I wasn't getting value for money.

Now, of course, manufacturers are not breaking any rules by selling

their products in oversized packaging

and Wendy's cornflakes are by no means the only -

or indeed the worst - offender.

You don't have to look very far to find other cereals that may perhaps

seem more air than oats,

confectionery that's more space than sweets,

and a snack that is more packet than crisps.

'So, I met up with author and shopping psychologist

'Phillip Adcock

'to get his take on a few other products that contain a little less

than meets the eye.'

Phillip, as we're looking at packaging and the amounts

and so on, when I look at something like this,

I think to myself... I mean, look at that.

It's just about a third full.

It's ridiculous. Why would people pick up a bag of that when they know

it's only a third full?

Psychologically, we'll always go for the bigger packet.

In the days of evolution, a long time ago,

if you saw a big apple on a tree, you'd pick it,

so we're naturally drawn to the bigger packet

and, dare I say, children definitely like the bigger packet

cos they think there's more in it.

I'm going to let you open the packet

cos, as I get older, I can't open any packet at all.

So, we're going to see how many more, in fact, we could get in.

Yeah, so that holds five to start with.

-Five? Only five?

-There's five in there now.

-Gosh, shall I count them in?

-Yeah.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12...

It still shuts?

-Yeah, it still shuts.

-Oh, it could take another one.

13... I'm not going to put it up too high.

-14. I think it would take 15.

-That's probably...

15 would be about the maximum.

-15.

-And that will still stack on the shelf in the supermarket.

-That...

That is terrible, isn't it?

'So, you could quite easily fit in three times as many Mini Moons

'in this packet as Tesco currently puts in.'

I would feel hoodwinked about this packaging.

So what is the answer to that, in terms of the manufacturer?

I don't know because it's a case of who blinks first.

If that product on the shelf

has got certain, what they call "standout" -

so you've got a big row of products

all brightly coloured for the children to see

and the parents to see -

if that one's got a "standout",

it's who can be good and shrink their pack,

cos as soon as one shrinks the pack,

-theirs is smaller than everybody else's.

-Mmm.

And so, suddenly, it doesn't look as good value.

'Let's try another. And this one, I must say,

'I do find extraordinary.'

So it says here "five lunchtime loaves",

but already there's a big space there, so that's not even full.

I would expect if I opened that...

I'm going to let you open the pack anyway.

If I opened that pack that it would be right up to the top.

'Well, I do think the manufacturer here could have put in another bar.

'It just looks like they've missed one out.

'So is this just part of another trend you often write to us about -

'products shrinking in size but staying the same price?'

So, generally speaking,

is the product inside the bag getting smaller?

Over the years, the supermarkets have negotiated harder and harder

to get us better prices. That's actually a good thing.

It gets to the stage where the brands that supply them

can't make it for the money,

so they have to what they call "value-engineer" the products -

basically give less in the pack - and that's so...

The only way they can meet the supermarket's price

is by putting less in the pack.

'And here's another product.

'It's a favourite of my grandchildren, for sure - popcorn.'

So, not quite half.

That's less than half-full.

See, if I opened that and I'd go to stick my hand in it, which I would,

I'd sort of think, "Oh, who's been eating the remainder?"

You know, it looks like somebody's had half the bag, doesn't it?

Whatever the reason behind the trend of big packaging, back in Wales,

Wendy feels thoroughly short-changed and she's keen to see how many more

of those gluten-free flakes could actually fit inside the box.

Now, that's more or less what I expect to see

when I open a packet of cereals.

I managed to get 150g more into this box of product,

which is 50% more than it's marketed at,

and there's still plenty of room in the box.

I do feel it was badly under-filled,

and I do feel it was designed so that the customer

will pick it up off the shelf thinking they've got a good deal,

when, in actual fact, it's not a good deal.

'Keen to gauge public opinion on the matter,

'Wendy has taken her half-empty cereal box to

'her nearby town of Porth.'

What would you think if you were buying this packet of cereal?

Where would you expect the contents to come up to?

If I give you this bit of paper with a bit of sticky each side,

could you put it on the packet to say about where

you expect it to come up to?

I think a bit higher?

Yeah, I'd say probably about... at least up to there.

If I show you that that's actually where it comes up to,

what would you say, I wonder?

Not good. It is misleading.

Oh, my gosh!

That is, well... That is low, isn't it?

Mmm-hmm.

I think that's a little bit unfair to present something in the box that

is so much too big for it. No, I don't think that's right.

They should cut that down a bit.

Well, it's a rip-off, isn't it?

Because it's more or less half the size.

Just a little bit more than half of the size

where it is actually coming up to.

Well, Wendy didn't meet many people who disagreed with her,

but when we asked Tesco about its packaging of this product,

and indeed about those Mini Moon cheeses I saw earlier,

the company didn't want to comment.

As for the manufacturers of the other products we looked at,

well, when we got in touch with Soreen,

the maker of those lunchbox loaves,

it told us that it had received similar feedback from its own

customers, who felt that the packaging was excessive.

As a result,

it's "been investigating ways to reduce the level of packaging",

and a new, more streamlined packet will be rolled out from May 2016.

And Asda, which sells the popcorn,

explained that corn is an ingredient with

"varying expansion characteristics".

In other words, not all kernels pop to the same size,

so its bags are sized to ensure that they'll fit

"both low- and high-density popped corn".

Asda also said that air plays an important role in cushioning

the delicate kernels and assured us that its production line

will detect and discard

"any bags that fall short of the declared weight".

But as we dash around the supermarkets,

falling foul of oversized packaging,

Phillip suggests we start thinking differently about the things

we choose to buy.

Unless we stop and think, and that's what we call "considered shopping",

then we're not thinking about what we're buying rationally.

OK, if you're being the perfect shopper, then how would you do it?

First thing I would do is I would start to try and ignore -

this is going to sound strange - the price.

That big, appealing... Yeah, the red-and-yellow ticket?

Pay attention to the little number in the corner

which is the pence per gram, pence per litre.

Compare those. And that's the second point.

Don't just say, "A pound or a kilo, that's about right,"

look to either side.

Compare. Thirdly, take your glasses.

Yes, remember the glasses - I agree with that.

Here in the UK, it's estimated that more than a million people are

vegetarian, all of them taking great care about the food that they eat,

but it remains the case that several everyday foods that you might assume

are suitable for vegetarians are in fact no such thing.

And even if you do know which ones to watch out for when

you're shopping, you obviously won't have the same control about

what's being put in your food if you're eating out.

Now, you might think that being a vegetarian was relatively

straightforward, provided you follow the one simple rule -

don't eat meat.

But, whilst avoiding a steak or a spag bol should be easy enough,

there are plenty of other foods that throw up more of a problem

because, while you'd probably have never guessed it,

there might be some sort of animal product inside.

Are there foods in which there are animal derivatives that we're not so

clear about? So, let's find out.

How many of these foods really would be safe for a vegetarian to eat?

'We're asking the shoppers at Spitalfields Market in London

'just that question.

'Let's see if they can guess which of these everyday foods

'contains any veggie-unfriendly ingredients.'

What on at this table do you think a vegetarian would be able to eat?

-That.

-Marshmallows? OK.

Worcester sauce.

Worcester sauce, righto.

-Caesar salad.

-Salad.

-Strawberry yoghurt.

-Yeah.

-Grapefruit yoghurt.

-Beer, I think you'd be OK with.

Oh, there's quite a lot you'd give them, then?

Well, most of it, I think.

-Would you?

-Yeah, I think so, yeah. I'm wrong, aren't I?

'I'm afraid he is, and he wasn't alone.'

Marshmallows, no, they definitely can't have the marshmallows.

-It's got beef gelatine in it.

-Right, OK.

Caesar salad has got anchovies in it - can't have that.

Parmesan has got calf's rennet in it.

-Right, OK.

-Right.

The strawberry yoghurt and the pink yoghurt - that's got gelatine in it.

-Oh, so I...

-And that, actually, the pink one contains cochineal,

which is also from animals.

-OK.

-And beer...

-Yeah?

-..has got isinglass, which comes from fish.

Ugh.

'Uh-oh, not a great start,

'but surely Spitalfields' veggies will do a bit better.'

-Are you a vegetarian?

-Yes.

Would you have a look at the foods on this table and tell me which of

these foods you think you could safely eat as a vegetarian?

-Pesto.

-Right.

Well, the pesto, authentic pesto contains calf's rennet

-and some of them have anchovy paste in them.

-Ugh.

-Really?

-Yeah, so that's off the menu.

-Yeah.

-Oh!

-Thanks(!)

Which of these foods do you think you would be able to eat?

-Just beer.

-A beer?

-Yeah.

Well, beer has actually got some isinglass in it, which is from fish.

-No.

-So, you can't eat that.

-No!

Parmesan, I could eat that all day.

I've got a shock for you, vegetarian.

All right. Right, OK.

-It's got calf's rennet in it, proper Parmesan.

-Nice. Lovely.

-All right?

In fact, none of the products on our table

were suitable for non-meat-eaters.

Worcester sauce, for example, contains anchovies,

and many cheeses, - not just Parmesan -

use calf rennet - an enzyme

extracted from their stomachs.

Similarly, the gelatine found in marshmallows -

a substance derived from the skin and bones of animals -

is also found in many ice creams,

dips and yoghurts.

And the beer? Whilst the one we used in this demonstration

wasn't suitable for veggies,

there are plenty of varieties out there that are.

But someone who thinks he would have passed our little test with

flying colours is Rob Colville from Stockport.

He's been meat-free for over 30 years,

and while he's confident that he knows his onions about what's in

the food that he cooks,

the same can't always be said when he goes out for a meal.

I really enjoy eating out at restaurants,

but one of my biggest concerns and frustrations

is the misunderstanding around what is and is not vegetarian,

Parmesan cheese finding its way into a lot of vegetarian-labelled dishes

and it's not vegetarian.

Fish-based products finding itself into a lot of dishes.

A lot of the time, the chefs don't understand what is and is not

vegetarian when it comes to their ingredients,

so these are the people that are cooking the food -

if they don't understand it,

how can vegetarians ever have confidence in eating out?

To try and tackle some of his concerns, today,

Rob is visiting the Vegetarian Society in Cheshire...

-Hello, Lynne.

-Hi, Rob.

-How are you doing?

-I'm...

..to meet boss Lynne Elliott.

-Welcome, and come in.

-Hello. Thank you.

One of the things that concerns me quite a lot is that,

on vegetarian-labelled meals, you're finding things like Parmesan.

-Yeah.

-I mean, is this something you're getting complaints about?

More than half the complaints we get from people about eating out

are exactly about Parmesan, so it's a big problem.

And, sometimes, when I'm looking at the vegetarian options

that are listed on a menu at a restaurant,

and I've got some doubts, perhaps,

about whether it is vegetarian or not.

So there's nothing that says that it isn't,

but I'm still not quite sure - what would you advise that I do?

Talk to the waiting staff, because that is their job.

They're there to look after you and they do actually want you to have

a good experience in their restaurant.

If you feel you need to ask for the chef, ask for the chef.

I think that chefs perhaps don't always understand

what is and is not vegetarian.

How can we make that understanding better communicated

through to the restaurant industry?

Yeah, I think you've identified a really big problem,

because it isn't just the chefs - it's the managers,

it's the waiting staff, it's the whole...

You know, everybody who's involved in food outlets and restaurants.

But there's also an education process, really,

about cross-contamination,

because it isn't just the ingredients that are in the food

that you're eating -

it's how it's been handled, how it's been stored,

how it's been prepared and how it's been cooked.

So it just needs to go into the pot of boiling water...

To help all of that,

the Vegetarian Society's principal tutor, Alex Connell,

has been training chefs for over five years.

If you're doing a Thai dish,

watch out for the paste if you use a Thai cookery sauce,

because they sometimes have fish in there.

Alcohol, as well.

Some wine isn't vegetarian,

so you're going to go to the trouble of making some beautiful vegetarian

dishes and then spoiling it at the last bit

by putting a bit of white wine in there that is non-vegetarian.

Today, Alex is meeting Rob...

-Hello.

-Hi, Rob, nice to meet you.

..who wants to grill him about something that he's found

can be one of the most problematic dishes for veggies.

I absolutely love pesto,

but one of the things that really frustrates me sometimes

is that an awful lot of pesto contains

non-vegetarian cheeses, particularly Parmesan.

Parmesan cheese, yeah, and vegetarians don't eat Parmesan, OK?

Now, the reason that it's not vegetarian is that it's got

an enzyme from a calf's stomach

and, unfortunately, the calf has to be killed to get the enzyme,

and that's why Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian.

But, in fact, restaurants could easily make a tasty pesto

that doesn't have that problem.

So, what we're going to do today is we're going to make some

beautiful home-made pesto, which is so easy

and, of course, you know that it's not got the Parmesan in it.

So, the ingredients are some pine nuts, plenty of basil,

garlic, olive oil,

salt and pepper and, if you want to put that...

If you want that cheese flavour,

then you can get an Italian-style hard cheese.

-Put the garlic in there...

-With all of those ingredients

put into a food processor...

So all we need to do is to pop the lid on,

switch it on...

MIXER BUZZES

Hey presto, pesto!

How easy is that?

It's actually really quite straightforward.

Anybody could do it, really.

Yeah, couldn't be easier.

So, if you've got a menu item at a restaurant,

-and you see that there is pesto in that dish...

-Right, yeah.

-..what would you advise?

-Ask. That's the way to...

And if you're not sure, if you think you're getting fudged,

get the manager.

But the thing to look out for, if it's got a "V",

that's great, but the Vegetarian Society does its own

independent checking, so if you see

the Vegetarian Society symbol,

you know that someone's

checked it independently.

And we're done. We just need to serve that.

Discovering that a supposedly vegetarian meal or product

actually contains things that aren't veggie at all

can come as a real shock and prove very upsetting for those who,

for example, don't eat meat on religious grounds.

And another thing both Alex and Rob find frustrating

is a still-common assumption that, if you don't eat meat,

you will eat fish.

When you're going out and eating Thai food out, I often ask,

"Is this vegetarian?"

And they'll quite often say, "Yes, it's vegetarian," and I'll ask,

I'll clarify, "Has it got any fish in it?"

They turn around and say, "Yes," but since when has fish been vegetarian?

It's something the Vegetarian Society is working on.

It's very frustrating when restaurants -

and it's not just Thai restaurants that do this -

many restaurants assume that vegetarians do eat fish,

because they might have met someone who said,

"I'm vegetarian. Yes, I'll eat the tuna,"

so that does add a little bit of confusion to it.

So what the Vegetarian Society is doing is trying to make sure

that chefs and amateur chefs know that

vegetarians do not eat fish - not ever.

We don't eat fish - that's the end of it, OK?

Non-meat-eaters who do eat fish are properly called pesco-vegetarians,

but it's not just the perils of eating out that can get vegetarians

hot under the collar.

Buying the right foods at the supermarket isn't always

as easy as you might expect.

So, one of the issues we hear a lot about from consumers is,

when they're buying food products, the labelling -

it can be very, very confusing.

There's a lot of names of things

that people have never heard of before.

So there's a lack of consistency and clarity, really.

We have a "Vegetarian Society approved" trademark

and that's an attempt to combat some of that,

so that appears on over 15,000 products now.

But, despite all of these checks,

some products do slip through the net

and have to either be recalled or relabelled.

In February, the National Trust had to pull all of its

mulled wine & whisky truffles after it found that,

despite being labelled as suitable for vegetarians,

they contained carmine, a food colorant derived from animals.

And in November last year,

Lidl withdrew its deluxe olive pesto from sale

after it, too, was wrongly labelled as suitable for vegetarians,

despite it containing anchovy paste.

If you find a product that is labelled suitable for vegetarians

and then you discover that it isn't,

then you can let the Vegetarian Society know,

and also let the manufacturer know, as well,

because the chances are that they will want to rectify

the situation and change the labels as soon as possible.

One thing that we would always say to consumers is,

check the labelling,

and check the list of ingredients as best you can.

Don't assume that, because you bought something last week

and it was vegetarian, it is this week,

because food manufacturers change their formulations

often and frequently.

So you might have been buying a particular dumpling mix for years

and then suddenly they've added beef dripping

and it's no longer vegetarian,

so keep checking and, query things with food manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Rob is happy that so many of his concerns are being tackled,

so that what is and isn't genuinely vegetarian

is much clearer to veggies and meat-eaters alike.

Today has been a really good day.

I've learnt a lot more about what is and is not vegetarian

and also how to tackle the issues when you're not quite sure -

understanding what questions to ask and who to ask them.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain -

why buying a multipack doesn't always end up saving you money.

That makes the twin pack 30% more expensive.

That is outrageous!

-It's cheeky.

-It is cheeky.

Now, one of the biggest changes to our shopping habits in recent years

has been the introduction of a charge for plastic carrier bags

at big stores.

There was huge consternation when it was announced that, from 2015,

English shops would follow the lead of those in the rest of the UK

and make you pay 5p per bag.

Well, it's not a huge sum,

but of course it's one that can mount up very quickly if you keep

forgetting to take those reusable bags with you.

Well, already the move has led to a massive reduction in the number of

bags we use and, therefore, very good for the environment.

So, as that was the whole point,

you could argue it's been a big, big success,

but I'm afraid some of you remain unconvinced,

and we've had plenty of letters from people wanting to know what happens

to the money that's raised,

so that's the question I've been trying to find out something about.

It wasn't so long ago that we were helping ourselves to a staggering

8.5 billion plastic bags

from supermarkets every year,

and as that number kept going up,

so too did the number simply thrown away.

So, to try to reduce the number of bags going into landfill, last year,

the Government in England introduced a 5p charge,

and it slashed the number of bags in circulation almost overnight,

but some Rip-Off Britain viewers weren't all that happy about it.

We've had a number of letters expressing concern.

Although, several months on,

it does seem people are coming around to the idea.

I mean, to be fair, I use my own bags mainly now, but...

And I always have done, you know,

but I think it's just a bit of a rip-off.

I always forget to bring my bags out, so I've got, like,

three cupboards full of bags.

I think it's a good thing, because it might reduce waste.

I'm all for it, to be quite honest.

Everybody's got a bag and it just stops all the litter

and all the waste, doesn't it, really?

I try and remember my carrier bags, but if I don't,

I don't mind paying 5p on the odd occasion.

Stores in Wales have been charging for bags since 2011,

and in Scotland since 2014.

Since the law was introduced in England last October,

Morrisons and Tesco have reported an 80% drop in demand

for single-use bags.

Iceland boss Malcolm Walker is delighted there's been

such a dramatic result so quickly.

Malcolm, remind us why the 5p charge was introduced for bags.

Well, the Government introduced it as a way to encourage people to

use reusable bags and cut down the wastage.

Single-use carrier bags are just that -

they're used once and then thrown away -

and there are billions used in Britain every year.

But the scheme has had another benefit beyond simply cutting back

on the number of bags that will end up going to landfill,

because most of the money raised from the 5p charge doesn't go to

the stores, but is expected to go to good causes.

It's a great win because it has cut down the usage, but also,

for those that are still sold,

the money goes to charity and it raises a lot of money.

When you say a lot of money, how much?

Well, the charity that we support is Alzheimer's Research,

and they're building a new dementia centre in London,

or hoping to, with 350 million, but they're 100 million short.

And when I heard this, I just thought,

if all the British supermarkets got together,

I just worked out that that 5p would amount to about,

in one year, 100 million.

It's down to the individual stores where they donate the money,

but Iceland's been joined by rivals Asda,

Morrisons and Waitrose in donating money raised from the bag charge

to the same cause, and that's given construction of

the new dementia research centre a vital boost.

Dr Selina Wray from the Institute of Neurology says that

the new facilities are sorely needed,

as the existing centres are already at full capacity.

At the minute, we're full to bursting.

We can't actually accept more people into the labs,

because we don't have the space for them to be able to do

their experiments, so that's a real problem for us.

We need bigger and better facilities so that we can have more researchers

working on this important problem.

It's hoped that, in the first year alone,

the support of these four big names will raise a total of £20 million -

a fifth of the shortfall in funding the facility needs.

The thing that we all want to achieve

is to get to the point where there's a treatment that will slow down

the progression of diseases such as Alzheimer's,

and I feel really optimistic that the new Dementia Research Institute

will help us reach that point quicker,

and help us make a real difference to patients and their families.

And it appears that, in Iceland at least,

seeing the money raised put to such good use has gone a long way towards

making customers feel happier about the 5p charge.

Did many of your customers complain at the very beginning?

We've had very, very few people complain because we make it clear

by the checkout where the money goes,

and if we say, "This 5p is going to Alzheimer's Research,"

who's going to argue?

It isn't actually the law that stores have to give the money from

the bag charge to charity,

but they're expected to do so,

and it's clear that cash from plastic bags

is already being channelled to a whole range of good causes.

Tesco links up with community projects to improve green spaces,

while Aldi donates to the RSPB.

Lidl has chosen to support Keep Britain Tidy

and the children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

And while there's been speculation that the sturdier, reusable bags

that you'll get from Sainsbury's meant that they didn't come under

the same rules as single-use bags,

and the store might, therefore, itself profit from the money raised,

Sainsbury's has made it clear that's absolutely not the case

and all the profits from its bags are voluntarily donated to

various good causes.

But there remains one area where some Rip-Off Britain viewers

still have concerns, and that's when it comes to what happens with

the bags your online shopping is delivered in.

The supermarkets don't have a standard policy on

how to approach this.

Ocado and Morrisons charge per bag for online deliveries,

although you'll get that back if you return them.

And, while several of the other big names do offer the choice of

a bagless delivery so that you won't face any charge at all,

if you do plump for getting your food in bags,

most stores will charge you a flat fee of up to 40p,

regardless of how many bags are actually used.

At Iceland, that fee is based on the average number of bags

used on a delivery.

It's a flat rate of 25p, which Malcolm says means that

customers making bigger online orders will benefit.

-Some people, of course, love to shop online these days...

-Yes.

..and we've had a few complaints from people saying that

the structure is different than coming into the shop.

It's a standard charge. How does yours work?

Well, we have to guess how many carrier bags

that order will need, and we're guessing at five, which is 25p.

Now, in fact, you'll... In actual fact,

most orders are ten, 12 carrier bags,

so the customer's winning.

So we've got that standard charge.

It's the only way we can do it,

but it's really no different to what goes through the checkout.

The money is recorded, it's separate and it goes to charity.

So, all that 25p, or whatever the charge is,

-that goes to charity, as well?

-Except for the VAT.

VAT is the only element of the bag charge

that doesn't go to good causes.

And it's hoped that, over the next ten years,

all those 5ps will together add up to the amazing amount of

£730 million.

One reported downside about the change is a claim from

the Crown Prosecution Service that it's led to

a 20% rise in shoplifting,

but, with the added benefit that an estimated £60 million will be saved

on litter clean-up costs, overall, it seems that, for once,

this is one extra charge that it's hard not to agree with.

What's your assessment, then, of this scheme?

I mean, what do you think of it?

I think it's brilliant because everybody wins.

The environment wins, we're using less bags, there's less litter...

The customers are having to be more frugal in bringing their own bag,

charity wins, and even the Government get more VAT,

so we're all winners.

Now, if, like me, you fancy yourself as a bit of a savvy shopper,

then you'll always be looking to get the best value for money

when you go to the supermarket,

and you probably assume that a terrific way of making

some tidy savings is to take advantage of multipack offers

on your favourite foods.

After all, buying in bulk has traditionally meant that

you'll be able to get cheaper prices.

But now it seems that may not always be the case.

We've been contacted by a number of viewers who aren't sure whether

the multipacks they regularly buy are the best value for money,

so we've done some investigating to see if multipacks really do

save you a packet.

Whether it's an eight-pack of crisps, six bars of chocolate,

or four tins of sweetcorn,

multipacks seem to offer big savings and a cost-effective way of

stocking up on foods that you regularly eat,

and that can prove a life-saver if you've got a hectic household that

needs a lot of planning,

as is the case for Claire Cremin from Urmston in Manchester.

As a busy mum, and with five children

and running my business from home,

everything throughout my day has to be very finely planned

on a daily planning board, and every minute counts.

I have to be very quick,

fulfilling all the tasks that I've got in the day.

The normal things that you would find easy -

getting up, brushing your teeth, making the breakfast -

can be quite challenging.

So, five plates, five lots of food all out at the same time.

A lot of the time, it's very much just a rush, so it's like,

"Let's see how quickly we can get everything out

"and get everybody eating,

"everybody dressed and then out the door for school."

BABY GIGGLES

With quite a schedule to juggle,

Claire usually heads straight for the multipacks when she does

her shopping, hoping that they'll save her time and money.

I've got to go into the supermarket,

get in and get out with minimal fuss.

And even at the other end, when I'm unpacking it,

I can put one big pack of them away,

as opposed to lots of individual items.

Even storage in the cupboards -

if I can store a multipack easier in the cupboards,

than actual individual items.

With little space,

and lacking in space with seven of us in a small three-bedroom,

we have to think of space-saving, as well.

CHILDREN LAUGH

Claire finds multipacks ideal for quickly putting together

packed lunches for the children, as well...

I've got five packed lunches to make, so the waters,

the crisps and the treats - the chocolate treats -

I would definitely always buy those in a multipack, never individually.

..but Claire has never stopped to work out whether those multipacks

genuinely are saving her cash.

So, I would assume that, if I bought a multipack,

I would be saving money.

I've never checked. Again, if I'm rushing in and out,

I'm not going to spend any time looking at the cost of it

or calculating it,

but I would wholeheartedly assume that I'm saving money when

I buy in bulk, in multipacks.

DOG BARKS

So, to help Claire find out if she's getting the bargains she thinks

she is, we went along with her on a midweek shopping trip

and we took a good look at what she's brought back

from the supermarket.

Inside those shopping bags was a total of 16 products,

on which she spent £43.90.

I firmly believe that buying in multipack saves me money and leaves

more money for us to spend on other things for our family.

We've got our crisps in a 24-pack.

That'll probably last us about three or four days at the maximum.

We always buy chopped tomatoes in a multipack,

purely because we do a lot of chicken dishes and pasta and rice.

I would always pick water.

I would be drawn to this one,

because it's very easy to put... to pick up,

put in the trolley and get home easily with the children with me.

Claire is convinced that she's saved herself a packet,

but retail behavioural expert Phillip Adcock isn't so sure

that that's always the case.

We have been conditioned over our lives to think bigger packs

represent better value.

So, if you've got a small can and a big can,

you think the bigger can will be less per 100ml.

The supermarkets and brands work hard to give us

more product for less money, but there are exceptions to the rule.

Go in there eyes wide open.

'And to prove the point,

'Phillip is going to show me examples of multipacks

'from the big four supermarkets that really could save you money,

'as well as some that, on the days we looked online,

'weren't quite such a bargain.'

Let's start with the crisps, for example.

-This actually is a good deal.

-Ah.

We can buy six packets of Walkers salt-and-vinegar crisps,

and if we buy a six-pack, it costs us £1.50.

That is £1 per 100g.

If we buy one 32...

-That's just a single bag.

-A single bag.

As the foods go, it's a slightly bigger bag, but it's one bag -

that costs us 55p or £1.69 per 100g.

69% more expensive,

so the advice is, go and buy a multipack.

-So the multipack worked out well, then.

-Very well.

Let's go onto the juices. Children love the juices, don't they?

-Not so good.

-Not so good? OK.

-Not so good value.

If you buy eight, that'll cost you £2.98 or 18.6p per 100ml.

If you buy just a single 2.75ml bottle, just one, that's only 18.2p,

so it's cheaper per 100ml to

buy eight singles than one pack of eight.

In your mind, in the consumer mind,

-you'd think it'd be better than the pack.

-Yes, cos we've been trained.

-OK.

-Yes. We've got Maryland cookies.

You can buy two packs, a twin pack -

they're stuck together, in one bag, for £2.49.

That's 62p per 100g.

Or you can buy one times 230ml pack -

one, that's a bigger pack where there's only one -

for 47p per 100g.

That makes the twin pack 30% more expensive.

That is outrageous.

-It's cheeky.

-It is cheeky.

Now, of course, supermarket prices change all the time,

but on the day we checked quite a selection of multipacks,

most of the ones we looked at did offer good value for money.

Nonetheless, there were still a few that worked out more expensive than

if you'd bought the individual items.

Take, for example, this three-pack of Wispa bars.

When we shopped, we found it priced at £1.50 for three 30g bars -

so that's 50p a bar.

Meanwhile, a single 39g bar was 60p.

So, although at first glance

it looks like the multipack offers better value,

in fact, because the bars are smaller in the multipack

per gram of chocolate,

that individual bar works out better value.

Likewise, these Heinz Five Beanz,

on offer the day we checked at three tins for £2,

but you could get exactly the same size single tins for just 50p.

In other words, buying three separate tins rather than

the multipack would save you 50p - the price of a whole extra tin.

Now, supermarkets, on their websites,

do make these price differences clear,

but the time it takes working it all out may outweigh the benefit of

any possible savings.

And, after all, for many, including Claire,

the appeal of the multipack lies in its convenience.

But the good news is that Phillip thinks the examples we found are

an anomaly, and not a deliberate attempt to rip us off.

Supermarketing now, from the retailer's side and the brand side,

is so fast and so furious, they just can't keep up with themselves.

So, if they hear that Morrisons is doing a deal on eight-packs,

Tesco wants the same deal for Pepsi,

so they'll knee-jerk and match the deal,

and what happens is things get out of line.

And whereas we could totally trust everybody to give us the best value,

now it's down to us, because there is no one magic person

keeping an eye on all the prices - the bigger is better value.

As we've highlighted before,

the key to whether a product really is a bargain lies in the unit price

information, usually in the very small print on the shelf label,

and I'm afraid the only way to know for sure is to do your sums,

comparing those unit prices to work out which

is the best value for money.

Focus on the pence per ml, the pence per litre, the pence per gram.

Don't leave your brain in the car.

Treat supermarket shopping as a job of work.

There's lots of bargains to be had, lots of extra value,

but you've got to go out there and look for it.

Back at Claire's house, how did her purchases stack up?

Did she pick multipack bargains or multipack mark-ups?

Well, for 14 of the 16 items she bought,

she had got better value by buying the multipack.

The biggest saving was on crisps,

which were more than £7 less than she'd have paid for

the equivalent weight in individual packets.

But she lost out on two items in her trolley -

her chopped tomatoes and tuna.

The four-pack of chopped tomatoes cost £3.50

but, at the same store,

individual tins were on special offer at 50p each.

So buying four loose ones rather than the multipack

would, today at least, have saved her £1.50.

Similarly, individual tins of tuna were also on offer

at lower than their usual price of £1,

meaning it was cheaper to buy three tins that way

rather than spend £5 on the multipack.

But, overall, Claire's shop was a resounding vote of confidence

in the multipack.

She saved a grand total of £28.93,

compared to what she'd have paid buying the same foods individually.

Wow.

I can't believe it.

I would expect to have saved money, but not quite as much money as that.

If I'd have bought all of these items individually,

my shopping bill would have been nearly double what we actually paid,

so I'm absolutely flabbergasted.

Amazing.

Even so, she'd rather not have lost out on those two items

that weren't better value,

so while she'll still be heading for the multipacks

whenever she goes to the supermarket,

from now on, she might just take a look at some of the other deals

and special offers along the way.

In future, I'd like to think that I will check some of the multipacks to

see if they're on offer,

if it's actually saving the money to buy them individually,

but I don't think it will change the way I shop.

Erm, I'll just be confident that I am going to save some money.

-ALL:

-Yay!

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Well, that's just about it for today,

but I do hope that you've been able to pick up some hints and advice

and what to keep in mind about the food you buy.

And, of course, you can also find more advice on our website.

The address is...

And from there you can also send us your own stories

for us to investigate -

whether they're about food or indeed any of the other topics

that we investigate throughout the year.

Well, we'll be back to look into more of your stories very soon,

but, until then, thanks for joining us

and, until next time, from all of us here, goodbye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.