Price-controlled goods, and why there is no gap on them

Updated 2026-11-01

There is a confusing moment in every price comparison app: you scan a bag of milk and find that every chain charges exactly the same for it. That is not a fault. On a small group of staples the state sets the price, so there is nothing there to compare.

What is controlled

According to the Ministry of Economy and Industry, these are the foods under government price control:

bread
table salt
milk and its products
butter
hard cheeses
soft cheeses
eating eggs

Control is split between the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture. Note: that is a list of categories, not of products. The prices themselves are published separately and change, which is why they are not reproduced here — the link at the bottom goes to the current list.

A maximum, not a fixed price

The law — the Supervision of Prices of Commodities and Services Law, 5756-1996 — lets the government appoint a supervisor and set a maximum price, on grounds of competition or the benefit of the public. The distinction matters: a maximum is a ceiling. A chain selling below it is acting entirely lawfully; a chain charging above it is not.

So a single identical price across chains is the normal state of affairs here, and a gap is worth looking at twice.

The rule that makes pack sizes behave

Control does not apply only to the exact pack named in the order. It also covers goods similar in their properties to the controlled item, even at different weights, sizes, packaging or names — and the price set for a similar product is in proportion to the weight and size of the controlled one.

Put another way, the price per unit holds. If a 250-gram tub of white cheese is capped at some figure, a 500-gram tub is capped at twice it and a 750-gram tub at three times. That is the opposite of the rest of the basket, where a bigger pack may work out cheaper or dearer per kilo — and where the price per unit is the thing to check.

There are exceptions: the controlled price does not apply to dairy foods designated as exceptions under Ministry of Agriculture guidelines.

How it looks in the shop

Chains publish their own list of controlled products, usually by barcode: the product name, the barcodes it covers, the weight and packaging, and the maximum consumer price including VAT. One maximum price covers several different barcodes from different manufacturers — which is why, in the app, a few items that look different show exactly the same number.

If a shop charges more

The maximum price is binding. You can file a complaint with the Ministry of Economy and Industry about price gouging on controlled foods.

It is not the same law

Two different things are easy to confuse. Price control sets how much may be charged for a particular item. The publication duty — the thing our whole comparison rests on — requires chains to publish what they charge at every branch, and limits the price not at all. These are separate laws with separate purposes.

The current list

Government-controlled food prices, Ministry of Economy and Industry

Why is milk the same price at every chain?

Because it is under price control. The Supervision of Prices of Commodities and Services Law lets the government set a maximum price, and for these goods it has. A chain may sell below that ceiling but not above it.

If there is no gap, why compare at all?

Controlled goods are a small part of the basket. The gap between chains lives in everything else, and that is where comparing works.

What if a shop charges more than the maximum?

You can file a price-gouging complaint with the Ministry of Economy and Industry. The maximum price is binding, not advisory.