UK supermarkets tend to have 3 ranges of own brand goods.

Cheap, which they call value.

Expensive, which they call finest or luxury.

Regular.

Here's a link to the scone product. (https://secure.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=25828...)

Here's a link to a price comparison website. (http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/grocery-categories/Scones_in_...)

So, you can get value scones at 50p for 10, with these ingredients {Wheat Flour,Water ,Sugar ,Vegetable Oil ,Sultanas (7%) ,Whey Powder ,Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate) ,Pasteurised Whole Egg ,Preservative (Potassium Sorbate) ,Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids)}

Or you could get Tesco Finest Butter And sultana Scones at £1.50 for 4, (37.5p ea) with these ingredients {Wheat Flour,Sultanas (21%) ,Buttermilk ,Cornish Unsalted Butter (11%) ,Sugar ,Free Range Pasteurised Whole Egg ,Cornish Clotted Cream (3%) ,Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate) ,Salt}

(https://secure.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=25384...)

Some of the value items are good. But you need to be careful. As you say, these value scones are not nice. Even the finest scones aren't great, compared to scones you can buy in cafes.

> I would be a bit worried to eat one that cost over 10x less and the seller was still able to make a profit.

A lot of supermarkets, at least in the UK, sell various basic foodstuffs as loss leaders[1], so they are making a significant loss on each one they sell. They do this to get you into the shop, in the hopes that you'll buy other more profitable items once there. Also, in university towns supermarkets are prepared to take a loss in order to secure the long-term brand loyalty of students who are shopping at supermarkets for the first time and forming their opinions, and will go on to become professionals who can afford the more profitable products.

If you are smart you can take advantage of these to get food very cheaply indeed.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader

So I wasn't the only one that noticed the free apple... Around here a single apple is $0.50-$1 depending on the size. I too can eat for less than a dollar by simply not counting the expensive parts.

Perhaps she scrumped it?

Not sure where you bought that apple, but I'm pretty sure that's more expensive than a full kg an a grocery store.

It most certainly is. A kilogram of fresh apples costs $2 to $4 here in Canada. $1 if you can get it from an orchard. I was just trying to exemplify that Apples are not free.

When I paid $4 for that apple: it was the middle of winter in Paris, France. I was in a grocery store, or Paris' equivalent of one at least.

I added this up, using Wolfram Alpha's calorie count and the Tesco scone linked in this thread. It's about 1600 calories. That's a full meal less than I usually eat.

If you buy a single fresh scone individually at a supermarket stand or at a bakery - that's going to cost a dollar. If you buy a bag full of factory made ones in mold proof packaging and full of other preservatives, then you'll have the budget cost version. If your grocery has them, they'll be bagged up in quantity right next to the bagged bread. Definitely not that expensive artisan bread in the loose bag, though.