14 Ounces is the New Pound
Over 200 years ago the power to regulate weights and measures was given to Congress by our founding fathers. However, as of late, an insidious change to those weights and measures has been occurring in our supermarkets without an intervening Act of Congress.
I have written a number of articles regarding the reduction of package sizes, the decrease in toilet paper surface area, substitutions of cheaper ingredients, and other schemes, intrigues and deceptions made to hide the true increase in the cost of products we buy.
As I reported in my article I Have Been Forced To Sell Some Stuff To Raise Cash, many ice cream manufacturers have replaced pints and quarts with 14- and 28-ounce versions.
So it is no surprise that the pound packages of various products no longer contain 16 ounces:
Chowhound, Fourteen ounces is the new pound
I couldn't help notice yesterday when I purchased a package of puff pastry that it is sold in a 14-ounce package. Most recipes that I can recall that specify pre-made puff pastry generally call for a pound package.
I also needed a pound of Great Northern Beans. The first bag I picked up was the Iberia brand, and as I was examining the beans inside the plastic bag I noticed that the weight was only 14 ounces. That kind of surprised me, as I had always purchased dried beans in 16-ounce bags, as least I always thought I was buying 16-ounce bags. Never paid attention to the net weight before, but now all the dried beans and lentils (Iberia, Goya and store brand) are packaged in 14-ounce packages. No longer one pound bags. Kind of annoying when most recipes that specify a quantity usually call for a pound of beans.
The author of the above worries that her recipes calling for a pound of beans won't come out right if the beans weigh only 14 ounces. But I say don't worry, it will work out fine - think about it - the old recipe of 1 quart (32 ounces) of tomato sauce to 1 pound (16 ounces) of beans is exactly the same ratio as the new quart size (28 ounces) to the new pound size (14 ounces). Of course the finished preparation, instead of feeding 8, will only feed 7.
The fact that fewer people are eating in your home will be a call to action by the Obama administration to institute Obamafare - a government program to offer affordable food to the millions made hungry by the downsizing of product weights and sizes.
This restaurant in Turkey serves meals cooked with ingredients donated to the poor every afternoon. Some 1,500 people come to eat everyday.
Photo Credit: hurriyetdailynews.com
