This is article #515 (2013) being repeated at the request of consumer advocate, John Stewart, as a public service advisory<\/i>.<\/p>\n
My world is shrinking! I\u2019ve watched it diminish over the last several decades. And it\u2019s not just my muscle tone, agility and recollection abilities that are shrinking. It\u2019s the things I buy as well. Especially in the grocery store. <\/span><\/p>\n Bread, for example. I plopped a piece of baloney on a slice of bread the other day; it hung over the edge. The baloney was bigger than the bread! <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid baloney get bigger?\u201d I wondered. <\/span><\/p>\n When I took a close look at the bread, I got my answer; it was smaller than it used to be. Something I wouldn\u2019t have noticed if I\u2019d opted for a healthier lunch, like peanut butter and jelly. But, I had been in a gourmet mood; baloney was the obvious choice. <\/p>\n I guess I shouldn\u2019t be surprised. All food products are getting smaller \u2013 the cereal boxes look the same as they always did, but they\u2019re thinner and have less cereal inside. The food processors didn\u2019t think we would notice. Canned vegetables, too. The standard can was 16 ounces. Now, it\u2019s 14 or 15 depending on who\u2019s doing the canning. The six-ounce can of tuna fish went on a diet: it\u2019s down to 5-ounces now. <\/p>\n It\u2019s nibbling away our grocery money, this shrinking thing. Most of us haven\u2019t noticed, at least unobservant shoppers like me. I sense it; the can or box feels different, but I don\u2019t have a reference point to compare it to. <\/span><\/p>\n Until the baloney hung over the edge of my bread. Then I started checking. The one item I was sure I knew the size of was a five-pound bag of sugar. I was shocked! Sugar is now sold in four-pound bags. <\/span><\/p>\n That really got me. It messes up my weight reference point. For years I\u2019ve judged the weight of things by comparing them to a bag of sugar. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow much does that puppy weigh?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d pick it up; compare it to my memory of a bag of sugar and conclude, \u201cIt feels about seven pounds.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Now I\u2019m off by 20%. <\/p>\n It\u2019s rampant, this downsizing of food packages. If the container isn\u2019t smaller, then it\u2019s modified so it holds less of the product. Saltine crackers for instance. Today\u2019s box contains 15% fewer crackers! (And 30% more wax paper.) They place the crackers in multiple sleeves, add more packing material and run an ad campaign that emphasizes the freshness. The same thing has happened to graham crackers. Same box, less stuff. <\/p>\n