While we've done many shrink ray posts, I've wondered how much the non-Consumerist-reading population has noticed. Well, an October '07 survey found 47% of consumers said they noticed packages were becoming more diminuative. Since the pace, and the coverage, of shrinking packages has greatly increased since then, that number surely must be higher. Don't forget to compare unit prices!

Freshly squeezed: The ever-shrinking box and carton [StarTribune] (Thanks to al koholic!) (Photo: Mykl Roventine)

Dave says:

I was doing an online survey and was questioned about my opinion on fish-sticks.

I'm sure other readers would also note the difference, however, they must assume the panelists to be daft.

What else was I expected to notice? His slicker is now Land's End?

I probably won't be empaneled any time soon.

Here are the questions Dave was asked:

Perhaps this is too deep a look into the minds that are responsible for the Grocery Shrink Ray. The abyss stares back and all that...

Note: The photo gallery was malfunctioning yesterday, so now that everything is fixed, I'm moving the post back up the page.

Click on a picture below to see it larger and read the tipster's dispatch.

Dale writes: "The shrink ray has hit Burger King waffle cone. On Wed & Sun, they are only $1.29 (used to be $0.99) I noticed that not only has it shrunk in size, but the waffle cone taste terrible. Seems like they switched manufactures to make the waffle cone part. Maybe they only use the cheep cones on Wed & Sun."

Rich writes: "You might want to investigate so called "solid pack" White Albacore Tuna, most notably Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee. They now contain an inordinate amount of water in their packaging...After draining the can there is far less tuna and far less "solid" chuncks, about one third of the product looks like counter-scrapings. "

Lee writes: "I have noticed in the local Wal Mart (Washington Square Shopping Center, near Ferry Farm, in Fredericksburg, Virginia) that they rolled back the price on the large bags of Meow Mix cat chow from $10.26 down to $10 even. What they did not tell you was that the bags have shrunk from 18 lbs down to 16 lbs. I wish I had photos of this but they tend to frown on people taking pictures inside of the store."

Jonas writes: "Dreyers Ice Cream has also gone to !.5 Quarts = 48 oz.
Dreyers is Nestle
1/2 Gallon = 64 oz
1,75 Quarts = 56 oz
1.50 Quarts = 48 oz"

Anda writes: "Great, I thought. I'll finally be able to get that last little bit I lose to the rim of the can. Nice, square plastic pop-top canister, but a little more compact. I was completely suspicious. I work in graphic design and packaging, so I know what a redesign means for the consumer. I decided to check out the bottle ratio on the back. Lo and behold, Similac is trying to pull one over on the poor consumer. The large canister now only makes 27 6oz bottles at the same price of $22.99."

Raymond writes: "Folgers coffee (100 Colombian) just got attacked by the mighty Grocery Shrink Ray. Can't get a pic because of quality, but it had 988 grams and now as 798; a fifth of the original amount gone."

Chris writes: "My name is Chris and I work at Safeway/Vons. The product in question is Tuna Helper. Today in checkout someone bought about eight boxes of it, and six failed to scan (item not found). Me and the other checker turned them over to find that the last 5 digits of the UPC were different. I began looking over the boxes...until I looked at the weight. The boxes that wouldn't scan (I'm guessing because they haven't been put in our system yet) are 7.1 Ounces, while the older boxes were 8 ounces. Side-by-side, you can't tell the difference between the two boxes, as the cardboard part of the box is the same exact size. Only the contents inside have changed in quantity. This is the first instance I've ever seen of this happening, and I'm not sure of it spreading anywhere outside of California. I'm also unsure of if it affects Hamburger Helper as well."

BettiePageMommie writes: "I had been buying my son Nutripals fruit bars for snacks since he is a very picky eater and I thought it would be a nutritious snack he could have and enjoy.

The bars in the first few boxes I purchased were of decent size, length and width- wise. Length- wise, I would say they are about 5- 6 inches and I'd say width- wise, about the size of two pinky fingers beside each other. Then more recently I bought a box and the bars are HALF the size width- wise than what I had been receiving. SAME PRICE, less product. These things can go for as much as $3.50- 5 for a box of 6, depending on where you shop. I feel jipped.

I don't have any pictures to upload because my son has already eaten the bigger bars, and we only have the small crappy sized bars left. I doubt I'll be buying them again. They do have drinks you can buy, and my son loves those. I haven't seen a size reduction in those. YET."

Tropicana writes:

"We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns about our new 89 oz SNAP Cap bottle.

Our decision to improve our bottle was not recent. Based upon feedback from families where children pour their own juice, we began working on this new package concept more than two years ago. The idea was to have an innovative cap that easily and securely sealed just by pressing on it, and one that easily poured without "glugging," the primary reason for spilling.

The downsizing from 96 to 89 ounces wasn't a decision we took lightly. As you are aware, oil costs have skyrocketed. Oil is used to make plastic bottles, fuel our factories, and ship our juice across the country in refrigerated trains and trucks. We had the choice to either increase prices or to downsize the bottle. We chose to downsize the bottle but add value through the innovation of the SNAP cap and new bottle, which consumers were seeking.

Although you may not agree with our decisions, we hope you can appreciate that they were made in the best interest of our consumers and shareholders. Please be assured that feedback from consumers, such as yourself, does influence decisions, and your comments have been shared with our marketing group.

We value your business, Glen, and have mailed coupons to use toward a future purchase. Again, thanks for your input and sharing your concerns.

Theresa
Tropicana Consumer Response"

ELSEWHERE:

• Even comic strip Baldo has noticed the grocery shrink ray trend.
• Burger King is testing a smaller Whopper. [Restaurant News]
• QFT, now that's a headline! WSJ: Food Makers Scrimp on Ingredients In an Effort to Fatten Their Profits
• The New York Times chimes in."Ate a Whole Pint? Check Again"

For ideas on defeating the shrinking-product-same-price phenom, read 3 Ways To Beat The Grocery Shrink Ray.

Got a hot grocery-shrink-ray tip? Send your pictures and stories to tips@consumerist.com

PREVIOUSLY:
15 Victims Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
Entire Grocery Shrink Ray thread

Food Amounts Shrink Over Years, But Containers Are Same Size [WTAE] (Thanks to Kevin!)

From Sara Lee Corp.'s new ad campaign with The Walt Disney Co.'s "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" to Kraft's new pizza commercials preaching "DiGiornonomics," consumers should expect to be blitzed by food advertisements in the next year.

Many major food makers are promising boosts to their advertising in the new fiscal year or reporting their spending is up in the most recent one. Their ads seem to be hitting a variety of outlets, including print, television, in-store promotion and the Internet — which marketers say helps them hone in on consumers and get the most bang for their advertising buck.

Analysts say it makes sense, even as these companies grapple with high prices for oil, corn and grains.

Consumers aren't going to change what they eat as they pull away from restaurants, said Harry Balzer, vice president of consumer research firm the NPD Group, and an expert on American eating patterns. They're just going to look for bargains, and that can mean changing brands.

"It's very hard for us to change our behavior. If we like ice cream, we're going to continue eating ice cream," he said. "Now the question is going to be what brand you're going to buy."

Remember, the Grocery Shrink Ray goes wild over brands. Savvy consumerists know to resist the advertising, and will see this as an opportunity to reaffirm their unending allegiance to the lowest price.

Foodmakers plan big ad campaigns in down economy [AP]
(Photo: GirlReporter)

Many restaurants are trying to sate diners and give them a sense of plenty for the lowest price possible.

“You have to be smart as a restaurateur and a chef and say, what’s the most value I can put on this plate so it looks like a lot of food and still appears to be a value and doesn’t anger anyone?” Ms. Taras Wallach of Little Giant said.

“I serve a lot of grits,” she added.

And many restaurants are trying harder than ever not to let any seats go to waste. Ms. Arpaia said that at Mia Dona she is accepting more reservations between 7 and 9 p.m. rather than steering diners toward early and late times that they might reject. Even if this means lengthening diners’ waits for reserved tables, she, like other restaurateurs, wants to make sure that no-shows don’t cost the restaurant money.

“I’d rather have people wait at the bar and buy them a free drink than not get them in the door,” she said, adding that she knows of other restaurants acting in a similar, extra-cautious fashion.

“You should see, when [the Europeans] come in the door, the shopping bags they hand off to the coat check,” said Graceanne Jordan, the general manager at the Modern, which is part of the Union Square group and is near the shopping corridors of Madison and Fifth Avenues.

“I mean, they’re just spending. It’s Monopoly money to them.”

So if you want that prime-time reservation, break out your best cash-happy faux-Euro accent and ask: "Sir? SIR! Ver eez my täbel, monsieur?"

As Belts Tighten, Lobsters Shrink and Bar Menus Grow [The New York Times]
(Photo: Sherry's Rose Cottage)

I try to preempt nasty smells in the refrigerator by buying one of those handy Fridge-N-Freezer baking soda boxes where you can simply tear off the sides and allow it to absorb odors. But in the past three months, it looks like marketing got a hold of the packaging, and suddenly baking soda only works for one month instead of three! Arm & Hammer say that they are "America's #1 trusted baking soda brand," but I'm not really feeling the trust anymore...

How very, very odd. Arm & Hammer says that their baking soda is 100% pure sodium bicarbonate, so we're assuming they haven't changed the recipe. They also haven't updated their FAQ. It still recommends changing the box every 3 months.

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity says:

I bought a can of Folgers coffee two days ago from Costco. When I compared it to my last can, also from Costco, I saw that the new one had 4 oz less of ground coffee. Ok, no big deal, but then I saw that the small can claimed to make more coffee than the larger can. This is the first time I've seen a company shrink their product but claim you get more. It's not a matter of coffee potency either, the preparation instructions are the same.

Now we're not math geniuses or anything here, so please do let us know if we're missing something or messed this up but, the preparation instructions are in tablespoons (volume) and the product is sold by weight... but the ingredients say that both cans contain 100% pure coffee. Has the density of coffee changed lately?

Hmm, let's see. ρ=m/V, and 1 tablespoon is 15 cm³... 360 6 oz cups...

By our calculations, the old density of Folgers coffee was .272 g/cm³ and the new density is .238 g/cm³. Did you guys get the same thing?

The shrink ray is getting more complicated all the time.

Folgers Coffee: Magic Shrink Ray Make More From Less [Blueprint For Financial Prosperity]

Click on the pictures to start an awesome gallery

Ed writes, "I shopped at the Walmart I regularly go to for, among other things, Gillette Mach 3 replacement blades. They have been available in 4, 8, and 12 packs for seemingly ever. The unit pricing for each was typically very close. 4 packs were about $8.25, 8 packs were $16.45, give or take.

Today, I discovered that the 4 pack is now a 5 pack. The insidious part is that the unit price per blade in the 4 pack went from about $2.06 in the 4 pack to $2.25 in the 5 pack, while the 8 pack unit price did not go up as much - $2.10 from $2.06. While I get that it is very common for bigger volume packs to have a lower unit price, this was not the case for this product. This had held true for at least 5 years.

The other interesting aspect of this is that P&G did the opposite of the "shrink ray." They grew/expanded the content and they sharply increased the price for that package. "

Brian writes,"I've been making my world (read: within my household) famous nachos for years now, and always with the same ingredients. The final part of cooking up the topping is a 15 oz. can of Hunts Tomato Sauce, a 4 oz. can of diced jalapenos (either Ortega or La Victoria), and an 8ish oz. can of diced ortega chiles. All of the items came in their normal sizes at their normal prices, but they are all far more watery than they have been in the past. I noticed it as I poured them into the pan, and now that they've been simmering for a good 20 minutes, it's far, far thinner than usual. I think there may be some companies watering down their ingredients rather than making the serving size smaller. Is this the grocery version of water-diluted gas?"

Got a hot grocery-shrink-ray tip? Send your pictures and stories to tips@consumerist.com.

Makers Kraft deny any trickery and claim they are merely "harmonising triangle weights across the range".

Cadbury spokesman Tony Bilsborough said: "The sizes of the bars goes up and down all the time to suit the market. Dairy Milk comes in all different shapes and sizes and there are a range of cost factors involved."

[Pringles] Spokesman Garry Stephenson said: "We launched a new Pringle with a better crunch texture, better flavour and a significant reduction in total fat and saturates."

Alex Beckett, from The Grocer magazine, says food firms are facing financially tough times and sympathised with their plight.

He said: "This isn't about ripping consumers off - the cost of making these products has rocketed because of more expensive food ingredients and energy costs. It's such a competitive marketplace with each manufacturer bitterly fighting with the next one.

"Downsizing portions and maintaining the original price isn't sneaky. It is a way of cushioning the blow to the consumer. Bumping prices up would hit people much harder.

"And besides, smaller portion sizes are healthier for consumers, especially at a time when obesity is so widespread. It won't do us any harm to be eating a little bit less."

Bollocks.

Our favourite snacks are being quietly downsized... so why's the price the same? [Daily Mirror] (Thanks to Deborah!)

Rising costs give groceries nip and tuck [Chicago Tribune]

Customers have asked why at least on Wegmans brand, we couldn’t keep size the same and just increase price (or better yet, keep size and price the same!). Wegmans brand suppliers often make products for other retailers (different recipes but same package size). It’s more costly for them to produce varying product sizes for different customers. So they often limit production to only one size; when costs rise sharply, it’s a new “smaller” container.

Well, that was refreshingly honest.

Up or Down? [Wegmans](Thanks, Aaron!)
(Photo: Tom Simpson )

• Cereal makers General Mills and Kellogg Co. have both said they will raise prices. General Mills "said it needed to make up for cost increases that it expects will total 9 percent."
• Kraft Foods, whose brands include Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oreos and Wheat Thins, will follow its 8% price increase earlier this year with another one to offset rising commodity costs.
• Sara Lee will raise prices 20% for its meat products like Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park Franks. Sara Lee's COO gave this mangled explanation to Datamonitor: "Price increases vary a lot by type of products but the increases will be as low as zero and some products we will decrease on and other increases (will be) in excess of 20%."

The Chicago Sun-Times advises,

Overall grocery prices are expected to rise 5 percent to 6 percent this year. But some categories are projected to post higher increases, such as eggs, fats and oils and cereals.

A report by the Food Institute, a research group for manufacturers, predicted 2008 increases of at least 9 percent for those products.

"Grocery bills going up — again" [Chicago Sun-Times]
"US food firms to increase prices again" [Datamonitor] (subscription only)
(Photo: Getty)

Meg writes:

Bought new hairspray the other day, and didn't notice until i got home that the new one had 15% less product in it for the same price. Bought this at ShopRite in NJ.

To keeping the public informed!

Notice how the tasty kangaroo was replaced by an eery "No Worries Guarantee."

Careful mates, the Grocery Shrink Ray silently lurks everywhere; but from the looks of our ongoing poll, that's how you like it, anyway. If you see a shrunken product, break out your camera and send your sighting to the tipline.

Reader Neal's receipt:

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

(Photo: Nathan Huth)

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your recent email regarding your experience with our new packaging for our Faultless Heavy Starch. We always welcome consumer and industry feedback, positive or negative, as we continually strive to improve our products.

We appreciate you letting us know your concerns about the new aerosol can we are using. We realize it is a significant change. The can we used previously was a 22 ounce, three piece can, with a welded seam. Because of how it is made, the old can uses significantly more steel and is more suspect to leaking along the seam if stored for a long period of time. Though the new two piece can does not come in a 22 ounce size, it has numerous other advantages over the three piece can.

By using less steel, the new can is more environmentally sustainable and reduces carbon dioxide emissions associated with the manufacture and distribution of our products. In addition to creating less waste, the new can has a longer shelf life, smaller diameter for better handling, and a more ergonomic design with a cap which is easier to remove.

For over 120 years, Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company has taken great pride in providing the highest quality products. We hope you appreciate our efforts to be environmentally proactive while preserving an economical way to aid ironing and wrinkle removal by not raising our prices and passing on raw material increases to our valued customers.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We would like to extend an offer of a few coupons as a thank you for your loyalty and support of our products and company. Please advise if this would be acceptable and provide a mailing address for the coupons.

Respectfully,

Annie Blackman
Consumer Specialist

Luke says:

I've been using White Rain shampoo for years. It's in every Walgreens in the nation, and it is the cheapest shampoo ever. It's a dollar a bottle. It's always been a dollar a bottle. Ask anyone. It's also always been in a 590 mL bottle. But now they changed it to a 532 mL bottle. They still insist it's "33% MORE" than something.

Well, it certainly isn't 33% more than it used to be.

1. Look for the old larger sizes still on shelves.

2. Compare unit costs
This is the number in the upper left of the price tag. A lower unit cost means a better deal.

3. Buy based on best value.
Reposition your thinking; instead of identifying yourself as "I'm a Corn Puffs guy, I've got to have my Pops," rationalize your thrift by saying, "I'm a money-saving guy, I've got to buy the best deal." Be willing to brand jump.

These tips won't completely negate the shrink ray, but at least they can partially counteract its effects.

Jim writes:

A visit to my local North Texas Tom Thumb store on Wednesday revealed the latest target of the Grocery Shrink Ray: Lucerne Yogurt. Thankfully the stockers were helpful enough to place the new 6oz size right next to the 8 ouncers, which I'm willing to bet are not long for the shelf. Note that the 8oz size is "REDUCED FOR QUICK SALE". Lovely.

Quick, grocery products, cower behind the dressing or ice cream while there's still time!

Logan writes:

I bought some toothpaste last night as my wife an I had been surviving on tiny, dentist-issued travel tubes for the past couple weeks. We're lazy, so to save ourselves the trip after the next big tube was gone, I decided to buy a double pack of toothpaste. Thinking that the marginal savings of bundled toothpaste was the way to go, I grabbed a healthy sounding combo and was one may way. When I got home though, I was in for a big surprise. When I pulled the "Bonus" tube out of its box, it was actually in another, smaller box. Whaaaaat? Why the double boxing? Was it for packaging reasons? Or was it to hide the widespread reach and effectiveness of the the product shrink ray?

This isn't the feared Grocery Shrink Ray. This is deception, pure and simple. The weasels running Colgate's marketing team stuck to the law by printing the net weight on both boxes, but they clearly want consumers to assume that the boxes are the same size.

Way to waste an extra box, Colgate!

I work at a grocery store and am just appalled at how the grocery shrink ray is in full effect. I notice it the most is in the produce department. The company that is shrinking their products most effectively while maintaining the same price is Ready Pac.

About six months ago, Ready Pac introduced a new size for their dinner pack salad. It went from 16oz. to 12oz. The price stayed the same while the packaging shrunk. Their excuse was that it was best for the consumer because they wouldn't have to buy so much. Whatever! Another item that Ready Pac has targeted is their cut fruit bowls. They've gone from 1 pound and a couple oz to 15.5oz packages. They're still charging the same price too.

Companies to consumers: We're doing you a favor by decreasing your purchasing power.

(Photo: Ryan Grove)

I was shopping at my local HyVee here in Iowa the other day and noticed that Kraft Deli Fresh cheese slices have new packaging. Being an avid Consumerist reader I immediately suspected the grocery shrink ray.

The old packet, still visible on the Kraft website, contains 11 slices and weighs 8 oz, compared to 10 slices and 7 oz in the new one. The individual slices a little bit thinner now too, 8/11 > 7/10. Bruce is exactly right, if you see your old favorite now being sold in a new packaging, that's a red flag that you may looking at a slimmed-down package. However, Bruce did not send in shots of the price tags, which is necessary to determine if the item is truly grocery shrink ray shrunk. As such, we can only label this a potential victim for now.

DELI DELUXE - CHEESE - SWISS 2% MILK REDUCED FAT SLICES 11 CT [Kraft]

UPDATE: Transcript added, inside...

Grocery Items: Same Price, Smaller Size [NPR]
(Partial image credit: hellochris)

TRANSCRIPT

Michele: Now we go from rising prices at the pump to shrinking products on grocery shelves. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Cereal boxes, juice containers, bars of soap, jars of mayonnaise. All these products and more really are getting smaller. But here's the hitch, you're buying less, but not paying less. Reducing the size of products is one way that manufacturers can cope with their soaring costs. Ben Popken is the editor of a consumer advocacy blog called Consumerist.com. He's been closely monitoring this trend, and he joins us now. Mr. Popken welcome to the program.

Ben: Hi, thanks for having me.

Michele: Now I'm just curious, have you been skulking around grocery store aisles looking for examples?

Ben: No, unfortunately, I sit in my blogging chamber upon high and I just receive reports from the readers, they dispatch what they're finding out at the supermarket.

Michele: And what are you hearing from the provinces?

Ben: I'm hearing the sound of shrinking, basically. What we call the "grocery shrink ray" is in full effect across America. Leaving all sorts of shrinking boxes and products in its wake.

Michele: Can you give me a few examples?

Ben: Definitely. Kelloggs, a wide variety of cereals are down 2.4 oz. Breyers Ice cream, 56 oz to 48 oz. Edy's Ice Cream, 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts. Dog Food... Butter...Country Crock is down 6%. It's just all over the board.

Michele: Now, these changes sound slight. I mean if you weren't looking out for this, would it be evident that the Country Crock tub is smaller than it used to be?

Ben: Probably not, unless you are some sort of savant who is able to memorize the net weight of all of the items that you purchase in your grocery trips, you are probably not going to notice it. But, right now we're in a crossover, a threshold phase where there are still a few of the old products left on the shelf, and when you see two different sizes being sold for the same price right there in front of you, that's when you notice.

Michele: You know there's always been talk about not wanting to break these benchmark amounts for product manufacturers. A gallon of milk for instance, or a pound of bacon. But it seems like we're seeing them cross that threshold now. I'm thinking of the half-gallon of ice cream, that was always the standard. That rectangular brick of ice-cream that you used to see in the frozen food section.

Ben: That is definitely no longer the case. There's a whole sort of secret underbelly in the ice cream world of who's delivering less and how much air is in it versus, you know cream and milk. Some brands even make it their marketing distinction, and they put it right on the label. Like, Brigham's Ice cream and Blue Bell Ice Cream they proudly state "Never Shrunk."

Michele: Do manufacturers ever alert customers? Or at least provide some information in the fine print that they're doing this? Does Wrigley for instance, note somewhere on the label that the 17 stick "Plenty Pack" is now a 15 stick?

Ben: The only disclosure that they are giving people is the different net weight and the amount of servings per package. The newest victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray that we saw today were these Kraft slices of swiss cheese and they're now giving 10 slices instead of 11 slices, and they're doing a different package. In this case there's a slight disclosure, but it has a little spin on it. There's a little green label and it says "sensible serving" so they're trying to tap it into the whole obesity crisis, and think that by giving you less for the same amount of money, decreasing your purchasing power, they're actually helping you out, fitness-wise.

Michele: Now, the food manufacturers will say that they're trying to get by too, they're facing rising fuel costs, rising commodity costs. So, they may be shrinking the package but they're doing that instead of raising costs, which might be much worse.

Ben: Well, I don't think that they're trying to do it to do anyone any favors, except for themselves. I mean everyone's got to get by. The economy is getting tighter, and I think everyone recognizes that. The problem is that they're trying to, you know, sneak it across the table without people noticing. So, when that works on the large swath of myopic consumers, that's great and that works out for them. But, when you have people who are actually paying attention to these things, then it's going to be a problem for both the consumer and the manufacturer because then people feel like they're being tricked. I think more and more people, as times are getting tougher, as people are watching their pennies more, they're becoming much more sensitive to value and these manufacturers maybe biting themselves in the butt.

Michele: Buyer Beware.

Ben: Definitely. Caveat Emptor.

Michele: There you go.

Ben: I mean the fact that the Romans were able to invent a word, it's nothing new.

Michele: Ben Popken, thanks so much it's good to talk to you.

Ben: Thanks Michele.

Michele: Ben Popken is the editor of a consumer advocacy blog called consumerist.com

Max says:

While I typically do not keep track of either the price or size fluctuations of my ordinary grocery purchases, this label jumped out at me. The label, for Kraft Italian salad dressing, prominently boasts "Still 16oz!". Whether this is a marketing reacting to the increased awareness of the 'grocery shrink ray' I cannot be certain. Unfortunately I do not have the price comparison available to see if Kraft has simply raised the price while keeping the same amount of salad dressing.

Resist, Kraft. Resist!

Reader Heather recounts the unfortunate discovery:

I thought I'd bring to your attention Mini Babybel Cheese, which was one that surprised even me. I got a message from the cashiers saying it didn't scan, which I thought was ridiculous, since it's always been popular. But there you go, a whole 2g less per wax packet. Sigh. And, you guessed it, the price is staying the same.

All this shrinking makes a lot more work for poor file maintenance workers like myself. But ah well! Such is the way of things in this wacky world.

I have attached a few photos of the "offenders", including the original as well as the copy-cat. The original Babybel package was 132g in total, the new one is 120g. I looked at each cheese packet, and yes, there is a noticeable size difference between the two.

Thank you for your time, and keep up the great work, guys! I'll be sure to keep you guys informed if I notice anything particularly interesting.

Reader Sean says:

I bought 6 boxes of the old ones for the “free” 24 diapers.

Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure you can just explain to your baby that it needs to stop pooing so much.

Or something.

The Incredible Shrinking Portion [The Brian Lehrer Show]
US manufacturers beat inflation by selling less for same price [AFP]
Shrinking groceries [CNNMoney]

AuJus sauce (by itself, not with meal): from free to $.50
Sandwiches in "Pick 5 for 5.95 combos": 2oz of sliced beef to 1.5 oz, 4" bun to 3.5" bun.
Sandwiches with cheese: $.10 increase

No word yet on whether this shrinking/price increase combo will spread to other regions.

One of the Arby's employees we spoke to over the phone said the changes were necessary because of rising costs, "of oil and stuff."

(Thanks to Cynicor!)

Josh says:

Publix did a great job not making it obvious — they pulled all of each flavor off the shelf before replacing it. But I found that one Mango one in the back and was able to make this comparison.

Speaking of not making it too obvious— these two containers look the same. Why does one have 6 ounces and the other have 4?

if you look at the bottom, that's where they get you. In the old days, the bottoms were flat. Now, not so much.

If you spot evidence of the ray's malevolent beam in your grocery store — take a photo and send it to us at tips@consumerist.com — or upload it to Flickr and submit it to our Flickr pool.

(Photos: Listener42

Listener42

Listener42 )

Apparently the super-market shrink-ray has a "reverse" option too. I've been collecting and re-purposing old scoops from laundry detergent boxes for years now, and have almost exclusively been a Cheer Color Guard (or it's current incarnation) customer during that time. Rather than use the scoop from a new box, I usually just continue using the previous scoop. Therefore I can't tell you how old this one is, but it's at least three or four years old.

So the scoop on the left is an older one, used in the cheer boxes many years ago. The one on the right is a new one from a box I purchased this month. Notice anything immediately? If you're like me, you don't sit down and painstakingly measure out your detergent, you eyeball the partially filled scoop and pour. For years I've used about 3/4 scoop to wash my clothes, no problems. If I applied that logic to the same scoop from a new box of Cheer, I'd have been using significantly more in my laundry.

However, to give Cheer a fair chance, I decided to measure them out as per the directions on the scoop. Each has 3 levels. Medium, Large and Heavy Soil for the old scoop and a 1 and 2 for the new scoop. The new scoop however has three lines on it and the directions state they are for Medium Loads, Large Loads or Heavy Soiled Medium Loads and Large Heavy Soiled Loads. So to try and judge fairly, I filled the large scoop to the maximum amount (3rd line from the top) with water.

Looking at the two side by side, it actually appears that the larger scoop requires less detergent for a large heavy soiled load. Perhaps Cheer tweaked their formula over the years and I'm judging them harshly. So I decided to see, because it seems to take a completely full old scoop to equal what a 3/4 full new scoop does. So I poured the larger scoop into the smaller, attempting to transfer all of the liquid to the old one. I couldn't do it.

If you'll notice, not only is the smaller scoop completely full (including the handle) but there's still water left in the large scoop. Two and one-half tablespoons worth.

So my conclusions are either Cheer is either trying to gently encourage us to use more washing powder than necessary, or they've reformulated their detergent over the years to actually be less effective.

-Mark

If you catch the Grocery Shrink Ray in action, approach warily with a camera, and send the results to the tipline.

Shrinking packaging costing you more [Fox 13]