• Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11 AM

Following a six-week undercover investigation, the Los Angeles city attorney has filed dozens of criminal charges against Ralphs supermarkets and its parent company, Kroger. The misdemeanor charges include overcharging customers, false advertising and false labeling. Potential fines and penalties are in the six-figure range.

Many of the complaints were for stores charging for the weight of an item's packaging or for including the ice glaze on frozen products, Andrea Chang reports. "Ralphs is taking money out of their customers' pockets," says deputy city attorney Don Cocek. "It might just be 95 cents," but if you add it all up, "this becomes a huge rip-off," he says.

Any possible violations were "an oversight," says Ralphs spokeswoman Kendra Doyel, pointing out the entire supermarket industry faces similar challenges. "There's absolutely no malicious intent in this situation whatsoever," she says.

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