Biggest corporate food scams in the world!! Yeah, it's me again.

[cantstandbush]

Bitchin' as usual.

I had nieces and nephews over for the school break. Went shopping for ice cream and other goodies.
I am so angry I could spit!! A half gallon is no longer a half gallon. I knew for a long time, maybe 30 years that most companies stopped using 1-lb cans of fruits and veggies. I even knew that they raised the price cut back the amount to 12 oz., raised the price again and then cut the can sizes to 10 1/2 oz. That wasn't enough. All the major brands of ice cream kept the shapes of their brands but cut back the sizes to hold only 1.75 quarts....short of a half gallon. And you guessed it, they all raised their prices while cutting back on the contents so consumers get hit twice from these greedy bastards. Now i know this has been going on for a long time but the ice cream bit just hit me because I bought some for those 'buy one, get one free' deals and notice that the prices had risen once again so that each container costs 89 cents more than it did last week. PISSES!!!

Of course, there is truth in labeling, but how many people really know the diff between 1.75 quarts and a half gallon. So long as the container is shaped the same and we all know a can is a can.
I put all the ice cream back (Edy's, Bryeres, Friendly's, Turkey Hill. Bought the off-main brand (Richfood) because it was still a half-gallon. I'm just wondering now how long they will still sell true half-gallons? I started looking closely at a few other items like over-the-counter cold remedies and laxitives. Yep, you guessed it. They have all reduced sizes and raised the prices. I know this because I compared two of them to the old boxes of unused stuff still in my medicine cabinet.

ok. I'm through. Just had to get it off my chest. Wondering how many ways from Sunday the great capitalist corporations are going to keep screwing the public and else cares and what can we do about it?

Good night and good luck!

[wordpix2]

1. I buy ice cream at the local place where they make it right there

Maybe you're not so lucky but the stuff is so delicious and rich that even tho it's about $7.50 for a true half gallon, it's worth it and you don't need much to get full.

[Rainscents]

3. Where's that?

Nothing like fresh made ice cream!!!

[China_cat]

8. I bought an ice cream freezer

and a book of recipes. Not only do I get great ice cream at a great price, it's fun.

[ebayfool]

12. The best ... we break ours out in the back yard every summer!

And the neighbors then suddenly remember 'something' (a tool, sugar, anything will do!) that they urgently need to return when they hear the crank going! Handy little reminder & killer ice cream for all! :rofl:

The price isn't too bad compared to the overpriced & underwhelming stuff at the market, either!

[China_cat]

18. And when you can go to the farmer's market

and get fresh, vine ripened strawberries, raspberries, peaches and other fruits to throw into it......


Yummmmmmm!

[Rainscents]

2. I feel the same pain as you!

Consumer are always getting screwed because, most of the consumers don't read like, you, me and few others.

[electron_blue]

4. This has been going on for years, maybe decades.

[SmokingJacket]

5. I noticed the same thing last time I bought ice cream ( Breyers).

It made me think, Shoot, do I really need ice cream?

The answer is No. Too bad for them -- they're going to lose business. (my local brand stopped selling, otherwise I'd go with them)

[Warpy]

6. That's why they brought in that "Unit Price" stuff in the supermarkets

because the first round of reducing the amount while keeping the same price was done in the 70s to try to con us into believing inflation wasn't really that bad and why did we think we needed raises to keep up with it?

Now they're finding out that just reducing the amount we're paying for isn't enough, they have to increase the prices on the smaller packages.

Plus the gummint has quietly been substituting stuff in that "market basket" of goods and services it bases the inflation rate on. They've gone from steak to hamburger to dog kibble and substituted plasma TV sets from Korea for bread to try to con us all into thinking the inflation rate is really, really low, and why do we think we need raises to keep up with it?

If the American public ever wakes up to what has been done to us by corporate pigs and their supporters in both parties, there will truly be hell to pay.

[MrMonk]

9. A report on that "substitution" would make a good article.

Do you know of sources for the historical data?

[cantstandbush]

11. If we had any investigative journalists worth a shit this would have been

a story years ago. I know it has been going on for years and I complained then and even sent a few letters off to Campbells and DeMonte. Never heard a word from either. Nevertheless, tonight it just really pissed me off. I think I will swear off ice cream. I don't usually buy it except when we have company of when the children come to visit. I think I will either make smoothies out of fresh fruit or do something else. Ice cream we can really do without.

[Warpy]

14. The article has been written

and came out a few weeks ago. I don't think I still have the link, though.

The substitution came about because Greenspan (our hero) said a very stupid thing about how families switch from steak to hamburger, so the CPI basket of goods and services should reflect that. So instead of tracking inflation, the CPI has been tracking reduced quality of life, reduced standards, reduced expectations.

Perhaps intense Googling will turn up the article I'm referring to.

[wakeme2008]

7. the only real thing you can look at is the cost of gas....

And only because of state measurement rules. a Gallon is a Gallon.... IMHO if the gas companies could switch to liters they would so a little increase in the per liter rate would not appear as big as the same increase on a per gallon rate.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Downsizing price increases, I was complaining about this not long ago too

There was a study done in 2003 or 2004 which showed that consumers in the US show a greater sensitivity to price than quantity. They've been sticking it to the consumer ever since. It's handy how it also helps mask inflation on the items where a consumer would be most likely to notice it.

[cantstandbush]

13. Good point. I wonder if those 10 1/2 oz can were reduced to

8 ozs if consumers would notice?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. If the bottom was bubbled up and some ridges were added inside

Perhaps not. But there is a limit to how small they can downsize without the consumer catching on. The small cans of coffee (formerly 1 lb) were first reduced to 14 oz then 12 oz and now I think they're at 11.5 oz. Gradual decreases were found to be less noticeable I would guess. I've also noticed they're slowly decreasing the sizes of potato chips and snack crackers. They'll have to reach the limit at some point or they'll all be snack size.

[anitar1]

24. By God, I noticed it long ago. I have my ways of keeping alert.

My shopping habits have changed a lot through the years. Very easy to drop something from my grocery list now. Besides , I try to buy locally, as often as possible.

[TreasonousBastard]

15. Well, yeah, like...

11 oz coffee cans, smaller candy bars in bigger packages... Noticed how Eskimo Pies, Klondikes, and Chunky's are so much thinner lately? I noticed the missing pint in the ice cream a couple of months ago, and got a little pissed myself. I remember when the soap companies came out with stuff like 137 1/2 Oz of soap powder so you couldn't compare price until unit pricing was established.

But, then there's that air pump in ice cream making, so 1.75 quarts of Breyer's weighs significantly less than 1.75 quarts of Edie's which weighs significantly less than 1.75 quarts of Ben&Jerry's.

It's just pretty well assumed that they are going to try to maximize profit, so it's up to us to save our own money. Breyer's, Turkey Hill, and Edie's tend to rotate the half price sales, and that's the only time I buy their ice cream-- even if the package is smaller, it's still at half the price they want to get, and usually cheaper than the store brands so I'm ahead.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

17. Mac and cheese 7.25 ounces, 99 cents

if you buy the big box, 14.5 ounces, it's $2.29. Used to be, buying in bulk was cheaper. :shrug:


rant on/

and oh yea, not 10 years ago, mac and cheese was 3 for $1, hot dogs were 69 cents and a head of lettuce was less than $1. Dinner for 4 for less than $3.

Now the same dinner is $7. $3 for the mac and cheese, $2 cheap hot dogs, and $2 for the lettuce.

rant off/

[MrMonk]

19. Yogurt went from 8 oz to 6 oz with no savings passed on to the consumer.

[Sydnie]

20. Well, they have to spend all that money

retooling so they can handle the new size containers, changing the volume measures, changing the packaging to hold the smaller units ... they would say there was no savings at all. And if 6 oz's don't fill you up, buy two ... they're smaller! :sarcasm:

[KitchenWitch]

21. That is one of my pet peeves as well

Another one - if you try to buy "filler paper" for three ring binders, most of it is 10-1/2 by 8 instead of the standard size 11 by 8-1/2. :grr:

[cantstandbush]

22. There are some not-top-brand food stuffs still selling in 16 0z cans

and half-gallons. I went to the dollar store the other day to get some cheap vaseline and found the shelves stoked with 1-lb cans of corn, string beans, baked beans and tomatoes. I did stock up and the quality was good. The cans were NOT filled up with a lot of liquid as the name brands are.

Any way find me a brand that is still giving the consumer good quality and quantity for their money and I am in. God, I wish I didn't have to eat...but I think I will cut my eating in half just to get even. I could stand to lose the weight. I'll get healthier, I'll show the bastards and save on medical bills as well.

[OneBlueSky]

23. another blatant example is coffee . . .

time was when you bought a can of coffee, you got a pound of coffee . . . then the amount dropped to 13.5 ounces -- although the can LOOKED the same . . . and now some cans contain only 11 ounces -- although the cans LOOK the same . . .

actually, this "phenomenon" holds true for just about any packaged food product . . . which is why it makes more and more sense to buy fresh and bulk foods whenever possible . . .