Inside the Michigan Heffron Lab that ensures 'consumers get what they pay for'

WILLIAMSTON, Mich. (FOX 2) - Placed before Chris McCormick are all the foods one would find during the holidays; beef chuck, fruit cake, a chocolate Santa, Christmas sugar cookies, 

But these items aren't for eating - and some won't even leave their packaging by the time McCormick is done with them. He picks a plastic candy cane full of gummy bears.

"We have to do destructive testing," he said, cutting open the tube and emptying the gummy bears into a bowl. 

Fruity candy can be a delight, but for the man in the Weights and Measures Section of Michigan's agriculture department, he's more interested in the container they arrive in.

Using a scale and some simple math, McCormick learns this package of gummy bears weighs more than what a buyer would pay for - about 0.166 pounds more.

"So you're getting more gummy bears than you paid for," he said. And who doesn't like getting more gummy bears?

Whether it's pet food or fertilizer, ground beef or bleach, and even gasoline for someone's car, Michigan consumers may not be aware of the underbelly of checks and balances ensuring what they're buying is what they're getting.

This division of consumer protection lives in the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development - and McCormick is the metrologist tasked with making sure someone purchasing a pound of ground beef is paying for a pound of ground beef.

That's because the cellophane wrap, foam tray, and soak pad beneath the meat are not part of the cost. It's McCormick's job to ensure the weight on the packaging doesn't include any of the packaging itself.

"It's important to get what you pay for, right?" he said.

"We're making sure things are accurate," said Tim White, director of the division. "So when you buy gas, when you buy a bottle of pop, you're confident that what it says is what you're getting."

Calibration at the Heffron Lab 

The hidden layer of safeguards operates 20 miles from Lansing in an unassuming building south of Williamston. 

The Heffron Metrology Laboratory's remote location was selected by design - away from the vibrations of truck traffic and any other variables that could disrupt their scales.

That's because even dust particles, grains of sand, or the air blowing from a nearby vent could add milligrams to a scale and give an improper reading. 

There are only 36 labs in the country with a weights and measures division for consumer protection. Michigan's lab has national accreditation and is certified by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

This ensures that a pound in Michigan weighs the same as a pound in Ohio, guaranteeing a product sold in both states has the same mass. There are also accommodations for moisture loss and temperature change, depending on where things originate from and where they are going.

 "It's like a chain - everything is connected," White said. "So that everybody is using the same standard, that five gallons of gas is five gallons of gas."

Fuel pumps are among the most scrutinized in the state, and McCormick says they often have some of the highest compliance rates, while packaged goods fail the most - though he emphasizes most do a good job of ensuring everything is accurate.

"Packaged goods are usually where you find slightly more issues, but most places do a really good job," he said.

Buying a bag of chips

When McCormick first applied for his job at the Heffron Lab, he discussed a bag of chips - one of the Internet's favorite punching bags for allegedly ripping off those that buy it.

A vacuum-sealed bag swollen with air and salty chips may be found to have a paltry number of chips, but was it an actual scam? 

While the debate over shrinkflation and whether companies are putting fewer chips in individual bags continues, McCormick says that as long as the amount of food labeled on the container is actually inside, the producer is not breaking any rules. 

"Maybe they have gone from a 10 ounce bag to a 7 and a quarter ounce bag, but if the bag size is the same, but the weight is lower, they're (the producer) not lying about how much is in there," he said.

When McCormick is looking for things to test, he often looks for items with new kinds of packaging he has not seen before or products that are being sold at higher-than-average prices. 

If he finds anything short, he works to understand the scope of the issue, who is being affected, and sends that information to management for further instruction.

But as long as companies are not filling a container with less than what is printed on the packaging, they're in the clear.

"Basically, there is no amount you're allowed to be short," said McCormick.