Oxfordshire’s refill shops measure up
People who use Oxfordshire’s refill shops to reduce their consumption of single use plastics can be reassured they are compliant with weight measures and food legislation thanks to recent checks by Oxfordshire County Council.
Over two days in March, the council’s trading standards team visited nine businesses at ten different locations to check weights and measures compliance of refill shops in the county.
The aim was to build up knowledge of the refill goods sector and improve compliance in that sector with weights and measures and food legislation. They found overall good compliance from the shops in question.
Councillor Dr Nathan Ley, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, said: “Growing awareness of the need to reduce consumption of single-use plastics has prompted the emergence of ‘zero waste’ or refill shops. Food, cosmetics and cleaning products, which would normally be supplied in single-use plastic packaging, are dispensed from bulk into containers provided by the customer.
“In the current climate, it’s important that consumers should also be confident that they are getting the quantity that they are paying for. Therefore, it’s very reassuring to hear that our local refill shops here in Oxfordshire are compliant with weights and measures, and food safety regulations.”
Where necessary, businesses were given best practice advice. One business was given advice recommending that it use its existing scales to determine the quantity of liquid products rather than relying on the capacities of the containers being re-filled.
Jody Kerman, Oxfordshire County Council’s Head of Trading Standards, said: “The cost of living crisis means it’s arguably more important than ever that consumers get what they pay for. Trading standards has an important part to play as ensuring businesses are weighing and measuring goods accurately is one of the cornerstones of our profession.”
All but one of the refill shops visited were selling dry foodstuffs by weight over stamped scales, priced per kg, 100g or 10g. All tested scales were found to be within working tolerances for accuracy.
The following categories of liquid commodities were also being sold by refill shops: foodstuffs such as edible oils and vinegars; cosmetics including shampoo, hair conditioner and liquid soap; and cleaning products like detergents. These commodities were being sold in three ways: by weight only; by weight, with a conversion to volume using the specific density of the product; and by volume, using empty containers.
Allergen information was also found to be provided in all shops.
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