Whole Foods Owns Up to Overcharging in NYC

Whole Foods is owning up to overcharging customers at eight stores here in the city.

Last month, the Department of Consumer Affairs found the grocer was routinely overpricing some pre-packaged items, including fruits, vegetables and deli meats.

The agency's commissioner, Julie Menin, told NY1 that Whole Foods was fined $800,000 in the state of California for the exact same thing.

Now, the company's CEOs are apologizing to shoppers and insisting that it was unintentional.

"Straight up, we made some mistakes. We want to own that," said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. "It's understandable sometimes mistakes are made. They're inadvertent, they do happen because it's a hands-on approach to bringing you the fresh food."

Whole Foods said it will increase training at its stores here in the city and across the country.

They plan to add a third-party auditing system to monitor their progress, and if an item is overpriced, the customer will get to take it home for free.