Edgar: If you say the Tropicana bottles have been 59 ounces for a long time, I'll take your word for it. Only in the last few months did I hear from Tropicana itself about the bottles being phased in (and the 59-ounce cartons being phased out), and only in the last few weeks have I seen the 59-ounce bottles being sold in stores. Meanwhile, the carton downsize from 64 ounces to 59, as you indicate, was fairly contemporaneous with this article's date. (Florida's Natural did the same thing a few months later.)

My question does not regard any of that. Rather, it regards the Tropicana 59-ounce bottles and how much actually is in them. Again, notwithstanding their apparent existence for a long time, these Tropicana bottles heretofore have not been ubiquitous in the Northeast / Mid-Atlantic markets. Supermarkets are only now switching over from Tropicana 59-ounce cartons -- both remain available on grocer shelves, and I am wondering whether, given the opportunity, anyone has actually measured the liquid in 59-ounce bottles from Tropicana, Simply Orange, Minute Maid, Tree Ripe, and other brands to ensure they do in fact contain 59 ounces.

The question stems from suspicion regarding why Pepsi-Co decided to phase out Tropicana 59-ounce cartons in favor of 59-ounce bottles. I'm not convinced that a move to all-plastic will, in itself, save Pepsi-Co enough money to financially justify the abandonment of cartons, and I certainly don't believe the move is grounded in some altruistic desire on Pepsi-Co's part to be more environmentally friendly. I'm wondering if there's another more cynical explanation, given the touted rise in orange crop prices.

Hopefully that clears up what I'm trying to ask. Thanks.

Edgar replies: GF: I misspoke in the previous post. The 59-ounce carafes have always been 59 ounces, but they were of a different brand. I find your suspicion interesting, but probably not founded. One could question any product's weight or contents, right? Just because a company has switched its packaging does not in my mind raise the issue that maybe they are cheating the public on the net contents too. They would violate state and federal law if they short-weighted their products. Pepsi could save a lot more money if they gave you one ounce less in every 2-liter bottle of soda (but they would get into big trouble legally).