The Grocery Price Tag America Standardized — Then Left Optional

In 1971, the National Conference on Weights and Measures adopted a Model State Unit Pricing Regulation. It told stores which comparison unit to use for meat, cereal, coffee, detergent, toothpaste, and other everyday goods, then set a 90-day start and 120-day full-compliance schedule. 1

The decisive clause was already inside the model: it standardized the presentation only when a retailer chose to offer unit prices. The later Uniform Unit Pricing Regulation, adopted in 1979, also remained a model that states could adopt rather than a nationwide requirement. 2

That choice still shapes the grocery aisle. NIST currently lists 10 jurisdictions with mandatory unit-pricing provisions and 33 states with none. 3