Columnist Muriel Stevens: A lesson in label discrepancies

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping column appears Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Fridays. Reach her at muriel@vegas.com or 259-4080.

Reading labels tells you not only what's in a product, but can save you money.

While shopping at a Rite-Aid drugstore with a friend, she noticed a version of the Maalox-coated aspirin, Ascriptin, that was labeled for arthritis pain. It was $3 more than the regular Ascriptin of the same strength, 325 mg.

Why? We both wondered. Then my sharp-eyed friend noticed a small line of copy on the box that said it had more Maalox.

How much more could be worth an additional $3? A spoon of Maalox doesn't cost much. There was no amount mentioned on the box or on the informational insert inside, but there was an 800 phone number provided by the manufacturer, Novartis Consumer Health, Inc.

Tonya, who took my friend's call the next day, was well prepared to answer questions, but when pressed for the amounts of Maalox my friend sensed some reluctance and never did get a straight answer. Tonya did say, "If you find the regular strength works for you, then you should buy it."

How do you know which is most effective? Why, you buy both, of course, and do a costly home comparison test.

Now I wanted to know how much Maalox was in the regular and the so-called arthritis pain Ascriptin.

I called the consumer line twice -- the first time as a consumer and a second time as a shopping columnist.

Fred took my first call. Without any hesitation he told me the regular Ascriptin was buffered with 187 mg of Maalox; the arthritis pain Ascriptin was buffered with 221 mg. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to figure out that 34 mg more of Maalox isn't going to make much of a difference in anything except the price.

Fred also told me when I asked about the difference in price that, "It's up to the retailer to set the charge for the product. You might want to shop around for the best price."

We already knew that. The best price was at Walmart, where a large bottle of 225 regular-strength tablets was priced at $12.04. At a Rite-Aid on East Charleston, a bottle of 100 regular tablets cost $8.49; at a Rite-Aid on Maryland Parkway, $8.29. So, it appears that prices vary even in the same chain.

When I called the Ascriptin consumer line and identified myself as a newspaper person I was told that any comments would have to come from the public relations person, Kate King. All I wanted were numbers, not comments, but I made the call. Kate's voice mail said she would be in her office all day, except she wasn't.

One of the most frustrating issues for consumers is comparison shopping. When there's just a few pennies' difference in the price of an item, most of us would just rather forget it, but the Ascriptin experience points out how important it is to read labels and compare prices.

Suntory turns to tea: It takes so little effort to make iced tea that I've never been one to buy iced tea in bottles (forget cans, they taste terrible) until Suntory's Oolong Tea. Known more for Scotch than tea, Suntory has come up with a terrific bottled tea made from premium oolong tea.

Suntory iced tea is sold in four-packs of 16-ounce bottles and in individual bottles. Both fully brewed and lightly brewed, and sweetened (with a little honey) and unsweetened varieties are available in supermarkets.