BWMA today releases an Internet report on the Great Metric Rip-Off - the scandal of "product downsizing" . www.bwmaOnline.com

The findings of the report demonstrate that metric conversion is the primary cause of "downsizing", the size reduction of packaged foods - without customers being made aware - during conversion from imperial to metric. Initially companies delete imperial units from product packaging and replace them with metric equivalents. Later, after references to imperial units have been removed, the physical quantity is decreased, BUT THE PRICE REMAINS THE SAME.

Metric reduction goes beyond the trimming off of one or two grams to prevent odd numbers (eg reducing 454g to 450g). Research shows that companies use metric to make size reductions of up to 10% or 15% with no comparable decreases in price. For instance, for the same price:

It is estimated that THE TOTAL COST TO CONSUMERS OF METRIC DOWNSIZING IS ABOUT £3 BILLION p.a. The cost to consumers of metric cans of baked beans alone is estimated to be at least £20 million per year.

A key motivation for companies adopting metric is that it gives them an unfair competitive advantage over firms using traditional imperial units. Using metric means that firms can sell smaller quantities at the same price as imperial while making no OBVIOUS change to the size of the outward packaging. The result is to give metric firms a price advantage over imperial firms, while the consumer loses out.

Astonishingly, CONSUMER GROUPS ARE INDIFFERENT to the Great Metric Rip-Off. The National Federation of Consumer Groups actually supports metric conversion, as does the Consumers in Europe Group, which calls for "rapid transition to full use of the metric system". The government, with true Orwellian "Newspeak", claims metrication is "for consumer protection", and "to avoid confusion."

In the absence of any opposition to metric conversion by consumer groups, BWMA calls on consumers to respond to the Great Metric Rip-Off by joining the Great Metric Boycott - buying only foods from companies that include lb/oz/pint equivalents.

"Don't Buy Metric"

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