Is it the Grocery Shrink Ray, or are companies looking out for our health? A box of Pillsbury cake mix has shrunk three ounces, but still makes the same number of (slightly smaller) cupcakes. Wheat Thins lose .9 ounces in the box, but have gained ten grams of “whole grains” per serving. Are they looking out for our health, or… nah, probably just their bottom line.

Reader Brian noticed and submitted the cake/cupcake mix shrinkage. Three ounces is 16% of the original mix’s size, but the box still makes 24 cupcakes. That makes each cupcake 16% smaller. Probably better for all of us in the long run, but the savvy baker will probably make up for the lost volume by adding more frosting.

Andi noticed a difference in Wheat Thins boxes: namely, that the box offers .9 fewer ounces of crackers, but ten more grams of whole grains per serving. Yay?

Except…hey, wait a minute, we already noticed that “whole grain” thing two years ago. Back then, the crackers gained wheaty goodness, but the boxes stayed the same size. No fair!

This is probably related to Nabisco’s recent shrinkage of Triscuit crackers as well.

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