When former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg introduced the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill last year, around 4000 EU-derived laws were in danger of being scrapped by default at the end of this year. Among the threatened laws were several items of weights and measures legislation, which this blog covered in the Rees-Mogg’s legislation time bomb article. Several amendments to the Bill were accepted and most of the laws have been saved from the axe. The Bill received royal assert at the end of June 2023 and is now the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act.
Continue reading “Victory for UKMA as W&M legislation is saved from bonfire of EU laws”Month: July 2023
CMA investigates unit pricing practices in the groceries sector
Today, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its review of unit pricing in the groceries sector. The CMA has identified several problems with current unit pricing practices, which may affect shoppers’ abilities to make comparisons. This is a big cause for concern when prices are rising. The review mainly covers the unit pricing practices of eleven nationwide supermarkets. It also covers the unit pricing practices of seven nationwide variety store retailers that sell general merchandise alongside a relatively small selection of groceries.
Continue reading “CMA investigates unit pricing practices in the groceries sector”Kitchen utensil names in recipes
In American recipes and in some old recipes, you might come across units such as teaspoons, dessert spoons, tablespoons and cups. In recipes, they do not refer to any old teaspoon, dessert spoon, tablespoon or cup but to specific physical quantities. How many are aware that these names refer to volume measures rather than physical kitchen utensils? These units are non-standard, and each unit has several definitions – a range of different teaspoons, dessert spoons, tablespoons and cups have been used.
Continue reading “Kitchen utensil names in recipes”Space dilemmas for writing metric symbols and thousands separators
The BIPM’s SI brochure states “The numerical value always precedes the unit and a space is always used to separate the unit from the number.” and says that the space, not a comma or a dot, shall be used for the thousands separator. There are several space characters in computing, but the brochure does not state what kind of space you should use when typing. Ideally, you would use a non-breaking space to ensure that no line break separates the numerical value from the unit. Users face the same issue when using a space for the thousands separator.
Continue reading “Space dilemmas for writing metric symbols and thousands separators”
Metric Views 