Here are the food products that have seen shrinkflation in Ontario, according to one study

July 18, 2024 Canuck

If you have noticed that the fruit pouches, frozen chicken bites or chocolate biscuits you usually buy from the grocery have shrunk in size over the years but their prices remain the same, you’re not alone.

A newly released study by Community Researchers on what’s so-called “shrinkflation” in Ontario has found that several products exhibited a reduction in their packaging volume, with higher-sugar or fatty food items experiencing the biggest change among the 20 food categories examined.

They are followed by baby or toddler food, frozen poultry, processed meats, and unsaturated fats and oils.

“We really wanted to study this because, in terms of Canada, especially Ontario, it’s pretty easy to find differences in price items, especially using mobile apps. But for shrink inflation itself, it’s quite difficult to pinpoint and to see exactly which products do have shrink inflation,” lead researcher Rachel Lee said in an interview with CP24 on Thursday.

“I personally believe hopefully regulating it more would definitely be a step towards this.”

Shrinkflation is the practice where manufacturers decrease the size or quantity of products, usually by redesigning packages, but the prices remain around the same. Experts have said the practice isn’t new and is usually used during times of high inflation.

Shrinkflation has been in the spotlight recently after trending on social media apps like TikTok.

The Ontario study looked at 60 products sold at three grocery stores and compared their 2024 packaging and prices to their 2019 version by using an archived flyer. Researchers said they chose 2019 for the study due to the five-year difference and “see the effects of shrinkflation before COVID-19.”

According to the study, the five specific products that saw the highest shrinkflation are fruit sauce pouches, chicken bites, chocolate biscuits, smoked ham and vegetable oil.

The fruit sauce pouch packaging they examined decreased by 360 grams, or 25 percent, from 2019. A particular brand of smoked ham shrunk from 1,700 grams to 1,400 grams, a reduction of 17.6 percent from five years ago.

Overall, 12 of the 60 products had a reduction in their packaging volume.

Meanwhile, items that did not experience shrinkflation include fruits, dark green vegetables, seafood, whole wheat and beverages,

In an earlier interview with CTV News Channel, Lee said she was not surprised by the study’s results.

“I already knew, and same with a lot of consumers, we already knew that there is some shrinkflation,” she said. “But it’s just more eye-opening to see how many product categories actually did have shrinkflation.

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Canada News

Here are the food products that have seen shrinkflation in Ontario, according to one study

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