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Show Weights, Measure Kept Accurate by Utah State Agency A trip to the supermarket or the gas station can be a traumatic experience today. ' But what if you couldn't count on accurate scales in the meat or deli departments or accurate pumps at the stations? At today's prices, even a small error could give your pocketboolc a thump. The fact that you can count on honest weight and measurement is a tribute to a little known but vitally important government agency the State of Utah Weights and Measures Department. Edison J. Stephens, supervisor of the section, and his staff inspect thousands of commercial weighing and meassuring devices every year to insure that you get that for which you pay. At the same time, local offf icials and their colleagues all over the country are protecting the interest of merchants, food processors, and others who transact business by weight or measurement. For this reason, the theme for the 1982 National Weights and Measures Week is, "Weights and Measures Equity for All." National Weights and Measures Week has been observed for the past 24 years during the week of March 1-7 to focus attention on the work of these important public servants. The dates were selected by Weights and Measures officials and the Scale Manufacturers Association to mark the signing by President John Adams on March 2, 1799, of the nation's first Weights and Measures Law. Local Weights and Measures officials try to Inspect each installation at least once a year on a random basis. "The element of surprise is important to our work," Mr. Stephens observes. Inspectors have no problems going about their work; however, merchants are always willing to cooperate. Statistics compiled by the State of Utah Weights and Measures Section indicate that of the thousands of weighting reports analyzed, the greatest incidence of shortweighl occurs in meats, fluid dairy products, solid dairy products, produce, and flour products. Commodities with better records are candies, canned and bottled goods, baked goods, and frozen foods. In addition to supermarkets and gas stations, there are hundreds of other installations to be checked warehouses, processing plants, truck scales, livestock operations, and on and on. Each of the SO states has its own Weights and Measures Section, which is responsible for testing and enforcement within its boundaries. Most are empowered to pursue criminal action when weight discrepancies occur, but generally the authority to order offending articles from the shelf is sufficient to correct the situation. Most shortweights are due to carelessness and lack of proper scale care and are not premeditated, officials say. That is why it is important that everyone cooperates, not only with Weights and Measures Section, but with the merchant himself, by calling attention to possible weighting errors. |