What about gas station owners who buy the 24oz. 6 packs of Mountain Dew and sell them at a profit? How do they get away with that?
They get away with it because the supplier hasn’t caught them at it. They’re not doing anything illegal. At the most, they might be in breach of some contract. Now whether that contract applies to them might depend on whom they bought it from.
Theoretically, there could be some state consumer protection laws that prevent retailers from breaking up packages and selling things individually, but my inclination is to doubt that such laws exist for cans of pop.
And anyway, even if the gas station is breaking some law (that they haven’t been caught breaking), it wouldn’t apply to an ordinary Joe who’s decided to sell his pop cans individually for whatever reason.
Most items I’ve seen labled that way don’t have a UPC code or Nutrition Facts, which I do believe would be a violation of some kind… ?
I’ve also seen them do it with cigarettes which I think is skirting certain taxes.
That’s a good point. There’s no legal requirement for a U.P.C. code, but nutrition facts and taxes apply to the retailer. The gas station probably just hasn’t been caught yet. Still, once the item has been sold to a consumer, he or she can sell it at will. There are laws in a lot of states restricting sales of cigarettes over the Internet, but nobody’s going to be able to come after you for selling a few loose cigs to your pals.
Do you have a cite, Alec? I thought food products had to have the “nutrition facts” label. Stuff with “Not labelled for individual retail sale” printed on it always comes out of a larger box which does, in fact, have the nutrition facts printed on it.
As far as I know, the only foodstuffs exempt from the nutritional labelling requirements is booze, but thats a story unto itself.
I don’t think we’re into a big legal issue, here. Usually, the individual bottles in a 6-pack have nutri-info. The upc is the anamoly, and there’s not a legal issue in that. If the upc on an individual bottle is scanned, it rings as a 6-pack. The cashier rings it up as one, and the price reflects the cost of refrigeration.
If you had an example of individual “fun-size” Snickers® bars, there might be a problem of nutri labeling. Maybe. “Fun size” means it’s all in fun. Besides, it has to conform to the USDA standard for Fun, and that is rigorously enforced. 
Fun is not taken lightly under the current Secretary of Agriculture. It’s bloody serious.
In most cases, they don’t actually do this. They buy individual, unconnected bottles (usually come in a case of 24), put them in coolers, and sell them. It would be needless effort to break apart 6-packs, and a waste of their employees time. Though they will do this if they run out of the others, and need to keep the coolere stocked.
P.S. I’ve always seen the individual bottles sold from a cooler, and part of the justification of the higher price was that they were chilled bottles.
Nutrition labels aren’t required, the only req is the company has to provide the info on demand. Also, there is a difference between “Not LABELED for individual sale” and “Not FOR individual sale”. In high school I worked for a gas station that sold single cigarrettes. The store basically bought the pack of smokes, then sold them singally. All taxes were paid.
Nutrition labels aren’t required, the only req is the company has to provide the info on demand. Also, there is a difference between “Not LABELED for individual sale” and “Not FOR individual sale”. In high school I worked for a gas station that sold single cigarrettes. The store basically bought the pack of smokes, then sold them singally. All taxes were paid.
BTW, what’s wrong with making a profit on the pop? If you feel it’s too expensive, buy the six pack at the grocery store. I never buy single bottles at gas stations, too spendy.
I have seen packages “Mount Loa” macademias(sp?) which don’t have nutrional info on them. They say for “nutritional information call…or write…”
That makes a lot more sense, now. On a trip up to Gainesville a few years back, we’d stopped for drinks at a Turnpike stop … they couldn’t ‘scan’ the UPC of the drink because it didn’t have one … and we’d not recalled seeing a package w/o one in years. In all other respects, it looked like a standard juice bottle.
(standard … when I buy brand name Granola bars, they have nutrtion info, etc, when I buy generic, I’m lucky if the expiration date and contents are printed on the plain silver label)
I have a 24oz bottle of Diet Pepsi (same company) from a six pack right in front of me (the “Super 6 24oz 6pack”, according to the label), and not only does it have a bar code and nutrition information, it says NOTHING about not being for individual sale. In this instance the answer to your question is they “get away” with it because there’s nothing prohibiting them from doing so. I’m in California, if that matters. I suppose there could be labeling laws that vary by state.