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To: waitwatchwander who wrote (713)	3/27/2000 9:27:00 PM
From: waitwatchwander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 948

Put the consumers first in food-pricing legislation Thursday, September 16, 1999 Electronic shelf labels soon may replace individual pricing on supermarket food items if the Legislature follows the recommendation of Consumer Affairs Director Daniel A. Grabauskas, who made up his mind on the issue this week after a year-long state study. Grabauskas, who takes command of the Registry of Motor Vehicles next week, said he based his recommendation on tests that show 100 percent accuracy when items priced at the shelf are rung up at checkout. Supermarket industry officials, who for years have complained about the costly, time-consuming task of marking each item with a price, applauded the decision. However, consumer advocate groups were not enthusiastic. Edgar Dworsky, who worked for the Consumer Affairs office when he wrote Massachusetts' unit-pricing law in 1987, and Deirdre Cummings of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group disagreed with the results of a state survey showing 47 percent of consumers approve of electronic shelf labels and only 27 percent oppose them. They said other research has shown that shoppers prefer to check prices by looking at labels on items instead of hunting for shelf tags on which product names are abbreviated and often hard to understand. Considering the difficulties ? due to age, poor eyesight or language barriers ? that some people would have finding and understanding shelf labels, Dworsky and Cummings offer a strong argument in favor of the present system. Their claim that consumers prefer it raises the question of whether those who approved of the electronic system were fully aware of what it entails. Grabauskas urged the Legislature to include in any bill permitting the switch to electronic shelf pricing the condition that supermarkets set up aisle bar-code scanners on which shoppers could check prices of items. He also suggested that stores be required to provide grease pencils so customers could mark their purchases to keep track of their grocery bills. If those ideas would help consumers, so might another shopper survey, taken at stores after electronic shelf labels and unit pricing are compared and carefully explained, before the Legislature acts. masslive.com