Category Archives: Consumer affairs

Will the European Commission challenge US labelling rules?

A recent posting by NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) has prompted this question: Are American labelling requirements now illegal under WTO rules?

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tory spokesman supports centilitres of alcohol

In a commendable outbreak of common sense, Conservative health spokesman, Andrew Lansley has proposed that, in order to clarify the amount of alcohol being consumed, bottles and cans should be labelled with the quantity of pure alcohol in centilitres rather … Continue reading

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Health | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Electric cars – an opportunity for SI, or a threat?

The arrival of electric cars on our streets will draw attention to measures for comparing performance.

Posted in Consumer affairs, Technical, Transport | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Milk pricing – is there method in the supermarket muddle?

The pricing of milk should be simple and clear, for milk is a staple item in every household. In reality, confusion often reigns.

Posted in Consumer affairs | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

BIS sticks with pints of beer (but only on draught)

As expected the Business Department has refused to permit sales of draught beer and cider in convenient metric measures – but its reasoning is bizarre.

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Health, Law | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

The English language – not to be taken for granted

Martin Vlietstra suggests a possible threat to our prosperity resulting from our resistance to change.

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Views from abroad | 5 Comments

A sticky problem with symbols

As a result of having to use two systems of measurement, many in the UK are familiar with neither. Philip Bladon, a regular contributor to MetricViews, draws our attention to yet another example.

Posted in Consumer affairs | 12 Comments

Free-for-all on packages sizes, but no help for consumers?

The Government has published its decisions on deregulating package sizes (as required by a 2007 EU Directive), including advice for business.  But so far no advice for consumers.

Posted in Consumer affairs | 14 Comments

Will 2009 bring metric-only labelling to the USA?

The coming year may see progress in this area. MetricViews offers a guide for the novice.

Posted in Consumer affairs, Views from abroad | 9 Comments

Our Christmas Cracker

The traditional Christmas cracker usually contains a joke, a paper hat and a toy, and goes off with a bang. Metric Views, in its cracker, has an anecdote about a Christmas Fair, links to two radio programmes, and a video with … Continue reading

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, History, Media | 20 Comments