Next time you’re buying packaged meat by the pound at Walmart, you may want to weigh it before you buy it to avoid being overcharged.
That’s the advice we’re getting from Jimmy Wrigg, a TikToker whose videos about Walmart’s meat have gone viral recently. In the videos, he picks up packages of chicken and ham and weighs them on an in-store scale. The result? They weigh less — sometimes less than half! — than the amount on the label. That means anyone buying those packages will be charged for way more meat than they’re actually getting.
‘That Don’t Weigh No 4.66 Pounds’
In a series of TikTok videos, Wrigg goes to multiple Walmart stores in his area and appears to quickly find multiple packages of meat that do not have the correct weight on the label. “That don’t weigh no 4.66 pounds,” he says in the first video he posted about a package of chicken, which has 3.3 million views. “We’ll use the scale,” he says before the scale shows that the same package of chicken actually weighs 2.37 pounds. “They’re ripping people off!”
In at least four subsequent videos, Wrigg goes to three different Walmarts and quickly finds more meat packages that are way off in weight and price. He even grabs a two-pound dumbbell from the sporting goods section to test the accuracy of the produce scale; we love his commitment to exposing this problem. “It’s a good thing they put these scales in here so we can keep Walmart in check,” he says in one video. “Check your meat, folks.”
On Reddit, people are up in arms about the videos. “That’s just straight up theft isn’t it?,” said one commenter.
“That’s just Walmart straight up stealing from the customers,” agreed another person.
“I thought maybe the weights would be off by 0.1 pound or so,” said one Redditor. “But 3 pounds off? That’s crazy! This makes me want to go to Walmart and try this!”
“Yeah same here, doubling the weight or more is … wild,” responded someone else. “Somehow I didn’t expect such blatant price manipulation.”
“There’s not much left in the US that isn’t a literal scam tbh,” another Redditor chimed in with, and boy, we’re feeling that one.
Who’s Responsible?
So what’s actually going on here? Well, many commenters on the various videos point out that the meats he’s weighing are actually packaged and labeled by the manufacturers before they even get to Walmart stores. Once Walmart has them, they just put them in the refrigerator cases for sale without weighing or labeling them themselves.
Kentucky Legend, a brand of many of the hams in Wrigg’s videos, posted a message on their website in response to the controversy. “There have been discrepancies,” the statement begins. “Our investigation confirmed that this error was isolated to a 5-minute window on a single production date.” The company goes on to say that they’ve “reinforced… safeguards to ensure accurate pricing going forward.”
In a string of videos, Wrigg confronts Walmart employees about the problem. Eventually, he speaks to a manager about the problem, who really doesn’t have much of an answer — or a solution. “We don’t even weigh anything here anymore,” the manager says in the video of the conversation. “I’m going to send this to the home office,” he continues, referring to the situation.
After that conversation, Wrigg seems frustrated, and we can’t blame him. “Go out and do this, make some noise, let’s be heard,” he says at the end of the video. “Check your meat.”
There’s Been a Class Action Lawsuit Already
Walmart has already been under fire for grocery weights in the past. In 2024, Walmart settled a class action lawsuit that claimed the company charged customers too much for weighted goods like bagged oranges. It’s not exactly the same situation, but it’s a concerning pattern for anyone that shops at Walmart.
In a statement to USA Today, a Walmart spokesperson directed people to the Kentucky Legend statement. They also said that the affected Kentucky Legend products were removed from shelves last week. However, the company declined to answer direct questions “including an explanation for apparently incorrectly weighed chicken and prime rib Wrigg found, which were not the Kentucky Legend brand.”
In a follow-up video, Wrigg said he contacted the Georgia Department of Agriculture Inspector for Weights and Measurements, a step that many on social media urged him to take because federal laws exist to protect consumers from situations like this. “We are sick and tired of being scammed at every turn,” Wrigg finished the video with. “Not just by [Walmart], but by everybody else… We’re scammed at every turn, we’re taxed at every turn. I’m tired of it.”
Cheapism has reached out to Walmart for comment, but has not heard back at the time of publication.
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