Rossen Reports: Can you spot the 'skimpflation' food?
Prices at the grocery store are still at an all-time high, but you need to watch out for another way that you could be paying more for less quality.
Shrinkflation is when food or drink companies downsize their products, basically giving you less stuff for the same price. Now, there's a new phenomenon called skimpflation, where you pay the same amount for the same quantity, but there's been a change in the ingredients of the product.
Edgar Dworsky is the founder of ConsumerWorld.org. He바카라 게임 웹사이트s been tracking groceries for decades.
"Instead of raising the price or shrinking the product 바카라 게임 웹사이트 they decide to reformulate the product. Often with cheaper ingredients," Dworsky said.
Here are some real-life examples of skimpflation.
First up is Scott바카라 게임 웹사이트s famous 1,000-roll toilet paper.
"Well, they can바카라 게임 웹사이트t do much about downsizing the number of sheets. It바카라 게임 웹사이트s not going to be Scott바카라 게임 웹사이트s 857 all of the sudden. So what do they do? They probably made the sheets a little thinner, and people are complaining about that," Dworsky said.
To test, Dworsky weighed the toilet paper and found that the four-pack he bought years ago weighed 2 pounds, 0.2 ounces. The four-pack that's on shelves now weighs 1 pound, 7.6 ounces.
It's still 1,000 sheets, but a lot less toilet paper. Rossen Reports reached out to Scott바카라 게임 웹사이트s parent company Kimberly-Clark but didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t hear back.
Then, there's the Hungry-Man double chicken bowl.
It바카라 게임 웹사이트s the same meal, same size, and same overall weight -- but there바카라 게임 웹사이트s been a change. The old Hungry-Man dinner has 39 grams of protein.
But this new one on store shelves only has 33 grams. That바카라 게임 웹사이트s 15% less protein. Whether it's less chicken or an ingredient change is unclear.
When asked if skimpflation is a trick, Dworsky said, "It바카라 게임 웹사이트s absolutely a trick because there's almost no disclosure on the package that you바카라 게임 웹사이트re getting something different than what you used to get."
The next product is what Dworsky calls classic skimpflation.
While examining two packages of Smart Balance margarine side by side, one clear difference popped up. The previous version had 64% vegetable oils, while the new version only has 39%.
"They actually reduced the oil content and replaced it with water. So if you look at the ingredient statement, the old ingredient statement says vegetable oil is the number one ingredient," Dworsky said.
In the new version, water is the number one ingredient.
Conagra 바카라 게임 웹사이트 the parent company of Smart Balance and Hungry-Man 바카라 게임 웹사이트 didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t comment.
After hundreds of negative reviews about the new margarine, it said in its online response to one review, "We are working on getting the old formula back on shelf and consumers can expect to find their old formula on shelf late fall / early winter.바카라 게임 웹사이트
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