Our Incredible, Edible Shrinking Food Packages
by Susan Davis on 09/02/09 at 2:53 pm
- Sugary Breakfast foods shrinking before our eyes.
I’m sure you don’t like being duped any more than I do, so unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed how many of our everyday food items are shrinking before our very eyes. And no, we’re not getting bigger. They’re getting smaller and lighter.
Our favorite food items are going on a diet, thanks to manufacturers who are wrestling with rising costs for raw ingredients and competing for space on grocery shelves. Have you seen Skippy peanut butter lately? The 18-ounce jar is now 16.3 ounces, courtesy of a newly designed container with a large dimple on the bottom. Your favorite half-gallon of ice cream has slimmed down to a neat 1.5-quart package. Yet we’re still paying the same prices, sometimes more – for less!
“We have chosen to reduce package sizes as one of our responses to rising commodity and business expenses,” said Dean Mastrojohn, spokesperson for food giant Unilever, parent company of the smaller Breyer’s ice cream container.
Well I’m angry and frustrated! I understand that everything is more expensive, but messing with the size of my favorite food is sacrosanct, especially when it’s done in such a sneaky manner. Sure, they list the net weight on the package, but there’s no banner that says “New Size” or “Less Food for Your Money.” Last June, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Kellogg Company reduced the weight of many popular cereals – including Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks – an average of 2.4 ounces per box to offset rising grain and energy expenses. And last month, the website Bloomberg.com stated that Kellogg was once again redesigning its cereal packaging for Froot Loops, but for now, it was just shrinking the package. But I guarantee you that within a few months, that smaller package will also contain less product.
A one pound can of coffee now weighs 10 ounces. The 8-ounce chocolate Hershey bar is a slender 6.8 ounces. The once hefty Dannon yogurt containers have lost at least 2 ounces and the former 200-count Kleenex box now holds 110 tissues. Frozen veggies are sold in standard 12-ounce poly bags, down from 16 ounces.
The website “The Consumerist” has been following this “grocery shrink ray” for a variety of products, and informs us that the latest victim is the Valentine’s Day “Cupid’s Mix” M&Ms. It is 10% lighter than regular M&Ms. Is nothing sacred?
I’m not opposed to manufacturers making a profit on their products. It’s their covert deception that bothers me. As Ben Popken, editor of The Consumerist said in a July interview with The Washington Post, “The problem is that they’re doing it in a sneaky way, hoping no one will notice. Consumers need to be aware anytime their purchasing power gets taken away from them.” Absolutely. And now that I’ve vented and feel better, I think I’ll go have a Hershey bar.
Happy shopping and eating!
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