It seems like all packaged foods do this now

Let me introduce you to tolerance in measuring instruments and measuring errors.

Edit: Apparently I'm pro evil companies because I just pointed out that scales (and more importantly non-professional scales) have relatively high error tolerances (+ the measurament method error). Thus the measuring of this pasta and the possible interpretations of it have to take into account that.

Sup, I'm your local friendly USDA contractor who very much uses scales everyday. Consumer grade kitchen scales are terrible and will lie to you. The fact that it does not go out to the tenths or hundredths is a big flag for accuracy.

We check test our scales twice a year to make sure they are accurate. I once tried check testing my kitchen scale I use for canning for giggles and it failed miserably. It would only register weight on 2 out of 4 quadrants until I got to 10g or so. I'm sure my ohaus is going to show a different and more accurate result if I where to try it.

wouldnt weight slightly fluctuate with moisture content?

-2% is probably allowed and this is -1.95%. It's okay I guess. I'd probably trust my cheap, regularly used and never calibrated kitchen scale less than I would trust these companies to comply with such rules.

The FDA regulation on Net Weight is found in 21 CFR 101.105. In this regulation FDA makes allowance for reasonable variations caused by loss or gain of moisture during the course of good distribution practice or by unavoidable deviations in good manufacturing practice. FDA states that variations from the stated quantity of contents should not be unreasonably large.

While FDA does not provide a specific allowable tolerance for Net Weight, this matter could come under FTC jurisdiction. FTC has proposed regulations that would unify USDA and FDA Net Contents labeling and incorporate information found in the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) Handbook 133.

NIST Handbook 133 specifies that the average net quantity of contents in a lot must at least equal the net quantity declared on the label. Plus or minus deviation is permitted when caused by unavoidable variation in weighing and measuring that occur in good manufacturing practice. The maximum allowable variance for a package with a net weight declaration of 5 oz is 5/16 oz. Packages under-filled by more than this amount are considered non-compliant.

http://www.foodconsulting.com/q&a.htm

On our packaging (Germany) we have a little "e" meaning it will be ± the weight with a deviation of 1.5-9% depending on the volume.
https://www.payback.de/ratgeber/besser-leben/kleines-e-auf-verpackung

I don’t see anything on the scale indicating it was not tared. Nor do I know whether or not you took a noodle or two out of the pile before weighing

For all we know, you tared this +20g and this is feel-good anti-corporate propaganda. Which is fine, we all hate the corporations…but propaganda is propaganda.

Op, please post a video showing a calibration weight on the scale followed immediately by your pasta taken directly out of a sealed box. For science.

It's a 2% difference. The cutting and packaging is done (most probably) by machines. I have clinically diagnosed OCD, and I wouldn't care about 8g of missing pasta... How much do you leave on the plate/in the pot/throw away? :)

Otoh, hitting exactly 410g (assuming the scale is calibrated, and you have the same temperature, air moisture and altitude as the factory), is very difficult. They could adjust their machines so the variation hangs a bit more towards the customer, but for them, 2% x millions of boxes = profit.

🤔Hmm doubt it's humidity issue the issue. But more importantly why is it not in 500g packets like all the pasta in the world?

Get a better scale first

How do we know your scale is right?

You've bought spaghetti Kelly, not cocaine.

I worked on a manufacturing line for 4oz pepper cans

They had a machine that weighed them and kicked out underweight ones.

The tolerances were horrible.

McCormick was 3.9 I think

Black and white can 3.5. !!!

Yes both were made on the same exact line

Depending on where you live this is actually illegal. In Germany, as example, if you say that something contains 200g it means that there have to be at least 200g inside. If its less, that can cost the producer a lot if he gets fined for it.

Yes, it seems that way because your kitchen scale is faulty and measuring everything a bit on the light side.

Could be worth checking your scale, if everything seems to be underweight. Low battery can show as lower result on some scales

If everything you're measuring is lower than expected, you should check the calibration of the scale. Weigh 2 or 3 things you know the weight of that are at different ranges of weights, light, heavy, medium, and see if any are off. Often a scale will be accurate at only within a certain range and get progressively less accurate as the weight increases or decreases from that range.

I have the same scale. I wouldn't trust it too far, especially combined with the tolerances and humidity weight changes.

There are different factors. One being accuracy of the scale, then there is loss of weight due to moisture loss, and also there are greedy companies. It can be any of theese(or a combination of theese)

Well... Cardboard is quite edible, maybe you should also put it on the balance.

I weighted my 500 gram broccoli recently and it was over 800 grams so I guess this goes both ways. Or then they're compensating for the stem.

2% off isn't that bad.

Weigh some things you know the exact weight of like 1L of water or your phone (you can google most phones weights, without the case and only if you dont have a screen protector of course). I had the same issue at home but realized my scale was jus off most of the time.

This is why in the EU they need to display net weight.

That brings up a question, is that 410g required to be just the edible product or could it include the weight of the packaging?

Net Weight vs Gross Weight

Packaging machines are getting more accurate, but producers just use that to stretch the legal limits instead of improving their honesty.

Marginavera

I was kinda confused why everyone's sucking the D of the corps here, and comments reiterating stuff already said.

But then I reminded myself at least 150 up voted this and all is right again.

When did shrinkflation become acceptable for pasta? Even though it‘s been legal for a while to sell more individual package sizes, I would never accept a package of pasta that doesn‘t say 500g or more on it.

Plenty of people have already explained that consumer scales show bullshit. But there's another reason why your weight is not the same as producer's weight.

You see, kilograms are a unit of measure of mass, not weight. Weight is measured in Newtons. And 1kg = 1 * g Newtons. But here's the catch - g is not constant in real life. It changes from 9.7639 to 9.8337 depending on your location. That's almost 1% of variance.

What that means is that if you take your scales and your pasta and go on a worldwide trip, then you will see different weight in different locations.

I mean how do you know your scale isnt the one that's wrong? I really doubt the quality of any cheap consumer grade scales.

The real crime here is that you bought Barilla instead of DeCecco.

They all have legally allowed margins of error.they use it to their full advantage.

Record profits is just code for "the successful fleecing of the 99%"... It has a better ring to it.

"shrinkflation" or smth

Weigh another one with the package and see if it matches to what it says on the package. Use the produce weight scale at the store so you don't have to buy two of them. I have a suspicion that you're buying the package. But then if that's the case then those meat moisture absorbers also will add a lot of weight when it comes to buying meat.

That would be outright illegal. It's more likely that op lives in lower humidity areas and non air tight food looses some water weight, or that op needs to calibrate their scale or buy a new one.

see, capitalism works!

sell 10million packages each with missing 2% of contents.
sell those 200000 extra packages with the contens you "saved" (no, not 204000 with again missing 2%, see below why)
do not pay taxes on extra packages you sold as you can "proof" you sold all 10million paying those taxes.
receive 200000 * price of package as personal taxfree extra income.
write that one guy who complained about missing 8grams of pasta a sorry letter
complain about time loss and costs writing a single sorry letter and pay paper and stamp out of "marketing" campaigns budget
complain about the world not trusting companies
complain about people using badly adjusted scales
complain about someone selling none-genuine products on market with your logo faked.
assume that those packages with missing contents could be just those fake products.

done a full circle.

but... kitchen scales are really bad. most other scales as well. i tried to find (electronic) scales that are actually precise:

for low weights i ended up with a scale with 0.01 gram precison, but it could only measure a bit more than 100grams (and also included a 100gr calibration weight)

for higher weigths i only found a scale for post offices measuring packages. the only thing the vendor "really" promised was that multiple times measuring the same thing would be showing the same weight (nope the best "affordable" scale on the market here did not promise to measure correctly, just to measure over and over the same...)

i guess the options for accurate measuring of more than 100gr are:

old style mechanical scales daily adjusted
high priced industry/laboratory scales with warranties

fun fact:

after i bought that 0.01gr precicion scale, amazon showed me small plastic clip bags with green leaf signs on it as "recommended" products for month, while i used the scale to mix just small amounts of 2-component epoxy resin in projects.