[Veggiepatch]

Shrinkflation? There's Another Method That Grocery Manufacturers Are Ripping You Off​

Forget about shrinkflation for the moment. There is another sneaky ploy for grocery producers to erode at your hard earned money.

Over the last year or so, I have noticed that some well known products have deteriorated in quality, especially with regard to effectiveness and concentration.

The first noticeable change in a product was Morning Fresh Dishwashing Liquid. Once my "go to" of kitchen crockery and utensil cleaning, it has deemed itself to be no better then the much cheaper home brands. When a squirt or two was sufficient for a substantial wash up, it has now turned into three times that for the same effect. Aldi's Tandil concentrate at $2.69 is now my dishwashing liquid of choice.

Next was the Chicken Tonight range of simmer sauces. Remember when you had to bash the bottom of the jar to remove the contents then a little swirl of water to get the remnants? No longer! In a fit of laziness, I bought a jar of Chicken Tonight Cacciatore Sauce instead of making it from scratch. Low and behold, the sauce flowed out like a stream, with hardly any sauce left in the jar. Oh well, back to preparation from raw materials, which is the better option anyway.

Finally, Peters Original Vanilla Ice Cream 2 L. As Bulla Classics Vanilla Ice Cream was out of stock, I opted for the Peters version at half the price - and half the quality. The emphasis was on the ICE and not the CREAM with the Peters product. As soon as I scooped it out of the container, something was wrong. A faint crunching noise emanated from the ice cream which was confirmed as ice during the eating. A poor act from one of Australia's premier milk producers.

As seen in the above products, the problem lies in the dilution of the "active ingredients" of these grocery items. A sly way of cutting material costs without decreasing the pack quantity. Have any other SDC members experienced a deterioration of other products in this fashion? Let us know.