Walmart and Kentucky Legacy respond to TikTok showing incorrectly priced meat
USA TODAY spoke to Jimmy Rigg, a TikToker whose video of him getting the wrong price for meat at a store has been viewed millions of times.
A series of TikTok videos has gone viral in which a Georgia man says some shoppers were charged more than twice the amount they should have paid because of meat mislabeling at three Walmart stores.
In the first video, uploaded on January 17, Jimmy Rigg shows an unknown brand of chicken breast priced at $19.20 at a store in Commerce, Georgia. Rigg questions the 4.66 pounds listed on the label.
When I weighed the package on a nearby scale, it was 2.37 pounds. At $4.12 per pound, the price should be $9.76, a difference of $9.44.
Rigg told USA TODAY that he suspects something is wrong.
“I’m very frugal,” said Rigg, who lives in the Atlanta suburbs and drives for Uber and DoorDash. “I watch every penny.”
What is the Jimmy Rigg video about?
On subsequent shopping trips, Willig said he discovered similar discrepancies at two other Walmart stores in Buford, Georgia. His most-watched video, which has been viewed 9.8 million times as of Feb. 5, features him weighing seven Kentucky Legend brand hams at one of Buford’s stores.
Mr. Rigg pulls a 2-pound dumbbell from the sporting goods department and places it on the scale to show that the scale is calibrated correctly. It shows 2.02 lbs.
Mr. Rigg noticed that most of the hams were the same as when he first weighed them. The label said it was 4.93 pounds and the price was $24.55, but it was actually 1.83 pounds and the price was supposed to be $9.11, or $15.44 less than the listed price.
Walmart and Kentucky Legends react to weight and price calculation errors
At least one meat manufacturer, Kentucky Legend, posted a statement on its website acknowledging the mistake at a store, but not the one Rigg visited.
The company announced that there was a difference in weight with the brown sugar honey ham sold at Walmart in Commerce, Georgia.
“Our investigation confirmed that this error was isolated to a five-minute window on a single manufacturing day. As a result, we have strengthened our processes and safeguards to ensure accurate pricing going forward,” the statement reads.
“We take full responsibility for resolving the issue and are committed to responding appropriately to affected customers,” the statement continued. “Customers affected by the pricing error should email zService@SFGtrust.com.”
It is unclear when this statement was published. Kentucky Legends did not respond to inquiries from USA TODAY with further information, including how many hams were affected or whether they were present in multiple stores.
A Walmart spokesperson referred USA TODAY to Kentucky Legend’s statement and told USA TODAY on February 3 that the affected Kentucky Legend products were removed from shelves the previous week. The spokesperson also said customers can return products to Walmart for a refund.
The spokesperson declined to answer several other questions, including a description of the apparently mismeasured chicken and prime rib that Rigg discovered was not the Kentucky Legend brand..
Walmart settles $45 million lawsuit over grocery weight in 2024
Walmart has had problems with the weight of its groceries in the past.
in 2024, Walmart has agreed to a $45 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit that claims the retailer charged customers more than necessary for aggravated groceries. According to the settlement’s FAQ, the case involved unit prices for weighted citrus and shelf labels displaying higher weights. Plaintiffs argued that for other aggravated products, such as meat, any reduction in the product’s shelf price was not reflected at checkout.
The 2024 class action lawsuit dealt with different issues than the ones Willig claimed to have discovered, Kimberly Donaldson Smith, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told USA TODAY.
“As described to us, the actions seen on the video are not related to the closed case,” Donaldson-Smith said in an email.
Food economist explains how to measure and label meat
David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University, said the relationship between retailers and manufacturers determines who weighs and labels meat products. For many prepackaged branded meats, the product arrives at the store already weighed and labeled, Ortega told USA TODAY. Some retailers also affix shelf tags or price stickers, he said.
Ortega said mislabeled products are likely to end up in multiple grocery stores because manufacturers often supply products to multiple retailers.
“Meat processing plants run automated, high-volume production lines, and even a simple calibration or software error can result in large numbers of units being incorrectly labeled without our knowledge,” he said.
Ortega said most problems “are unintentional and result from equipment errors, system failures, human error, rather than deliberate cheating,” adding that there are strict laws that allow only small deviations in weight.
But Ortega added: “The discrepancy of almost double the actual weight shown in the video is quite large and goes beyond what is normally acceptable. Consumers are entitled to receive what they pay for, and the accuracy of weight and dimensions is very important.”
Rigg’s reaction to Walmart, Kentucky Legend’s reaction?
Rigg said he’s glad the Kentucky legend admitted his mistake, but he still has questions. Rigg told USA TODAY he was disappointed that Walmart didn’t recognize that there is a bigger problem than Kentucky Legend when it comes to labeling and pricing meat products.
His nine TikTok videos have been viewed by more than 20 million people as of February 5th. He said many of his TikTok followers have reported finding similar weight and price discrepancies on meat and other products at Walmart and other retailers in the state. One follower who said he works at a Walmart in Michigan said he found a Kentucky Legend ham there that was incorrectly labeled.
It’s unfair that consumers have to investigate and report these mistakes, Willig said. He filed a complaint with the local Bureau of Weights and Measures, but received no response.
“They keep pushing the problem on us to solve it, but it shouldn’t be our problem,” he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her at @blinfisher on X, Facebook and Instagram and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky.. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, breaking down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.
