New York – Chips are disappearing from bags, candy from boxes and vegetables from cans.
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As an expected increase in the cost of raw materials looms for late summer, consumers are beginning to encounter shrinking food packages.
With unemployment still high, companies in recent months have tried to camouflage price increases by selling their products in tiny and tinier packages. So far, the changes are most visible at the grocery store, where shoppers are paying the same amount, but getting less.
For Lisa Stauber, stretching her budget to feed her nine children in Houston often requires careful monitoring at the store. Recently, when she cooked her usual three boxes of pasta for a big family dinner, she was surprised by a smaller yield, and she began to suspect something was up.
“Whole wheat pasta had gone from 16 ounces to 13.25 ounces,” she said. “I bought three boxes and it wasn’t enough — that was a little embarrassing. I bought the same amount I always buy, I just didn’t realize it, because who reads the sizes all the time?”
Ms. Stauber, 33, said she began inspecting her other purchases, aisle by aisle. Many canned vegetables dropped to 13 or 14 ounces from 16; boxes of baby wipes went to 72 from 80; and sugar was stacked in 4-pound, not 5-pound, bags, she said.
Five or so years ago, Ms. Stauber bought 16-ounce cans of corn. Then they were 15.5 ounces, then 14.5 ounces, and the size is still dropping. “The first time I’ve ever seen an 11-ounce can of corn at the store was about three weeks ago, and I was just floored,” she said. “It’s sneaky, because they figure people won’t know.”
Continue reading at The NY Times
this nothing new , company’s like mars and Hershey have been doing this for a long time, since don’t want to pay more for a item.
They downsize the regular sizes and then they make a “new” giant size which is the same as the old regular size but, they charge twice as much for. Who do they think they’re fooling anyway?
most of the items discussed here have very little or no food value.
When was the last time you saw a half gallon of ice cream? A can of tuna is 5ozs.
Maybe it will help folks use smaller portions and be healthier?
When I was fist married, 42 years ago, a normal can of tuna contained 7 1/2 ounces. I’ve been watching the shrinking contents over the years, until it’s gotten to the present 5 ounces.
Another funny observation I’ve made is that Quaker Oatmeal has recipe directions on the box, and for each serving they had you use 1/3 cup oats. they now have 1/2 cup for each serving so the contents get used up that much more quickly. I even have proof – they once had a promotion where they put a 1/3 cup measure, with the Quaker logo in each box. I’ve kept mine all these years.
They also charge the same price!! Puffs for example used to be over 132 or over 200 in a box ina 3 pack box. Now it is 124. Same price!!
I have now seen the NEW and LARGER can of tuna – 7 oz!
I called Hellmann’s (800-418-3275) and asked when they downsized. She said March 2006. She went on to explain about their increased costs blah blah and how rather than increase the price, they shrank it.
I said – it amounts to the same thing – it costs more, and the way you did it was DECEPTIVE. People don’t realize they are getting less. It’s not like you wrote on the bottle: New! Smaller Size! (sarcasm).
She’s sending me a coupon.
Go ahead everybody – tell Hellmann’s and all those companies we don’t want to be played for suckers!
Look in old cookbooks and see the sizes they tell you to use in recipes and look in your pantry and see the difference! In some cases it’s a pain in the neck because the recipes say one thing, and the products don’t match so the proportions are different.
tomato sauce – from 16 oz to 15 oz
tomato paste – from 8 oz. to 6 oz.
can stringed beans – from 16 oz. to 14.5 oz.
Hellmann’s mayo – from 32 oz. to 30 oz.
choc chips – from 12 oz. to 10 oz. to 9 oz
can tuna – from 7.5 oz. to 6 oz. (Dagim is still 6)
can salmon from 15.5 oz. to 14.75 oz.
egg noodles – many went from 12 oz. to 10 oz.
pasta – some are 16 oz. many are 12 oz.
New Square Orange Juice – from 64 oz. to 59 oz.
some packages of frozen fish fillets – from 16 oz. to 14 oz.
Coke – from 2 liter to 1.5 liters
Postive cabbage shrank from 16 oz to 14 oz
Beware when buying oil – is it a gallon or a skimpy 96 oz
yogurt – from 8 oz to 7
loaf of Jerusalem bread is 15 oz
Landau’s (18th Ave) Romaine Lettuce for Pesach shrank from 12 oz. to 11 oz.
shredded cheese – 12 oz (sometimes, check the bag)