After an investigation proved that Whole Foods Markets Inc. was overcharging California customers, the Austin, Texas-based company agreed to pay $800,000 in penalties.

In a yearlong investigation on the matter, state and local inspectors discovered that the supermarket chain charged prices higher than what was advertised on many items, according to Mike Feuer, City Attorney of Los Angeles. Other problems found by the inspectors included failure to subtract the price of containers at checkout, selling meat and deli products by the piece instead of the weight as required by law and labeling items lighter than they really were.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the company which runs 74 stores in California alone will have to pay several parties in the settlement: "Whole Foods agreed to pay $630,000 in civil penalties to the city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Monica, who brought the case. It will also pay $100,000 into a consumer protection trust fund, and $68,394 for costs." The company will have to reimburse the state and county agencies that conducted the pricing investigations. Also part of the agreement is a five-year injunction for increased price monitoring, accurate pricing, improved practices, and random audits.

In the company's statement, Whole Foods responded by saying that it fully cooperated with the city attorneys and now strives to ensure both transparency and accuracy in their activities. Furthermore, the company added that in their own reviews, inspection and sampling reports they had an accuracy of 98 percent in pricing and weighing of their products.

To improve on the issue at hand, Whole Foods promised to continue refining their current processes and make additional ones in order to minimize the errors.

Whole Foods Markets is an American supermarket chain that specializes in organic and natural food products. It first opened on Sept. 20, 1980.