Get smarter at the supermarket with these tips from grocers.

1. "Don't buy anything with more than five ingredients (too processed), with ingredients you can’t pronounce (too processed), with anything artificial (tastes bad), with a cartoon on it (direct marketing to children), or with a health claim (misleading)," says Nestle.

2. Check sizes. "Stores are constantly trying to repackage things to make them sound like better deal," says David Livingston, a supermarket industry consultant. "The new Jiffy peanut butter container looks the same, but it actually has less peanut butter inside. Ninety-five percent of customers don't watch this kind of stuff."

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3. Paper? Plastic? We don't really care. But asking us to double-bag…that's just wasteful.

4. Dig and reach for the freshest produce. Older merchandise gets pushed to the front of the bin and spread across the top to encourage customers to take it first.

5. This isn't a social service agency. "The purpose of grocery stores is to get you to buy more food, not less," says Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat (North Point Press). Only 14% of consumers overall stick to just the items on their shopping list.

6. Very few people really like the "loyalty card" program, and it's expensive for us to run.

7. The kid at the cash register or the cart collector in the parking lot is making minimum wage at best. The buyers for the store and department managers earn bigger paychecks.

8. Attention, shoppers: Don't start your shopping just as we're closing. We just want to leave. It's been a long day.

9. Watch out for gimmicks. They are intended to get you into a store more frequently and to keep you away from competitors.

10. The person who supervises it all has a tough job; they're just a big babysitter.

11. Thanksgiving is our least favorite holiday.

12. Bring back your recyclable cans and bottles, but wash them out first. Don't bring them in with soda still inside—it's not sanitary, and it's disgusting.

13. Dealing with perishables, such as seafood and produce, is tricky business. "I always say we have to have everything that the customer wants, but maybe they don't want it today. Maybe they don't want it tomorrow. But we still have to have it here," says Nizzardo. "Perishable items are where supermarkets loose the biggest amount of money."

14. Signs of a store in trouble: Stocking fewer perishable items, storing non-perishables in refrigerated cases to make them look full, and "dummying up" shelves with empty boxes. If we were offering the best prices and highest quality, wouldn't there be more people shopping here?

15. I'm not getting rich here. After-tax net profit for the grocery industry is less than 2 percent, and by the end of 2013, the Food Marketing Institute, an industry group, predicts annual average wages will be just $18,000.

16. If you get in the 10 items or less line with 25 items, don't be surprised if you are asked to leave. If you have 12 items, not many people will care.

17. Watch those shopping-cart handles. They're covered in bacteria, says food-safety consultant Jeff Nelken. Use a sanitary wipe if the store provides them. Finicky shoppers can even patronize supermarkets that send their carts through a cart wash.

18. Skip the center aisles. That's where you'll find the junk food, like sodas and snack foods.

知晓若干规则，当聪明消费者

1、以下商品“雀巢”主张“手下留情”——多于5种配料的（过分加工），成分标注不明的（加工处理过于复杂），人工添加的（不对味），带有卡通图片包装的（针对儿童市场），宣称有保健作用的（误导消费者）。”

2、留意“净重量”。“超市经常重新包装商品再拿出来卖，从而得到有更大的收益。”超市经营顾问David Livingdton说，“货架上摆满的Jiffy花生酱都看似一样，但实际上有些瓶子里面的花生酱却稍微少一些，这些细微的差别有95%的顾客是不理会的。”

3、纸袋还是胶袋？我们才不关心。但要求我们用双层购物包……那就太费钱了。

4、搜刮新鲜制品。通常旧货都会被摆在货架的最外头——让顾客最容易抓取的地方。

5、这里不是社会服务站。“食品店的最终目的就是尽可能地让你多多消费，而非小花费。”《应该吃什么》（北点出版社）的作者Marion Nestle说。只有14%的顾客会按照他们的购物清单消费。

6、极少数人真的喜欢“积分卡”计划，对于我们老说，实行起来也是耗费过大。

7、收银员和停车场的推车管理员最多只领取法定最低限度工资，而能够领取较大数目薪水支票的是采购员和部门经理。

8、注意了，顾客们：别在我们要关门了才来购物，我们只想下班回家，这一天有够累的。

9、小心“大减价”，它只是使你勿近竞争对手的伎俩，诱惑你常来自家光顾。

10、超市主管是个艰巨的职务，他们跟保姆没什么区别。

11、感恩节是我们最讨厌的节日。

12、回收空瓶空罐时，请先把它们清洁干净了，别拿来里面还带有残渣的——这样很不卫生，太恶心了。

13、处理易腐类食品是个棘手的问题，例如海产食品。“我们常强调我们的货品要顺应顾客的需求，但顾客需求却是不定时，今天他们需要买些海鲜，也可能明天。但我们必须得每天供应海鲜。”Nizzardo说，“易腐类食品使超市亏损最严重。”

14、一家商店开始走下坡的迹象是：易腐类产品入货越来越少，非易腐类产品堆积在冷冻柜，还有空瓶子出现在样品架上。如果我们能供应物美价廉的商品，怎么会没人帮衬呢？

15、食品店经营者可不是有钱人，这个行业的税后净利润仅仅为2%。根据行业组织“食品市场协会”的预算，到2013年末，超市的平均年产额仅为$18,000。

16、买够10样或少于25样东西就好离开了，即使你买多两样，也没人在意的。

17、“小心那些购物推车的手柄，他们沾满了细菌。”食品安全顾问Jeff Nelken说。用清洁抹布擦一擦，如果超市有提供的话。讲究的顾客甚至支付清洗购物推车的费用。

18、请略过通道的中枢，那里全是垃圾食品，像汽水啊，零食啊什么的。