Have you noticed the contents of a lot of packages have become smaller? Prices haven’t been reduced, though, and in some cases have gone up. When a pound of meat or vegetables goes up in price it’s obvious, but the real “gotcha” is in canned and packaged products.

Some packages and cans may appear to be the same size, but check the weights or volumes. A lot of canned vegetables that were once 15 1/2 or 16 ounces are now 14 1/2. I purchased a can of tuna recently – instead of being 6 ounces it had been reduced to 5. You’ll find the same trend in frozen foods and refrigerated products and it doesn’t stop there. For example, some fabric sheet packages that once contained 40 sheets now only contain 36.

Personally, I think this is sneaky, although I’m quite sure manufacturers would deny that. Consumers tend to speak out about plain old price increases, but reducing package contents isn’t quite as obvious. To me, the biggest insult to consumers is to leave the packaging itself the same size but put less product in it – or redesiging the package to where it appears the same but isn’t – for example, a container no longer has a flat bottom – it’s indented so it actually contains less product but appear the same as it always did. Come on manufacturers -if you are going to reduce the contents, reduce the size of the packaging as well so it’s more obvious to consumers, don’t try to hide what you are doing!

Some people may think “oh, what’s an ounce here and there…” but consider the impact of millions of consumers and millions of ounces… and in some cases the amount you get for your money is not only less, the cost has also crept up – a double-whammy for consumers.

I wonder when a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs will become less…think about it. 🙂