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3PM Food companies reducing contents but not package size.
The new trick in the last few years is for food companies to keep the external package of some food item (like ice cream or cereal) the same, but to reduce the actual contents inside and keep the price the same so that the price-per-ounce goes up but the overall price of the object stays the same. In some cases, the container does change, and it feels a little weird, but in other cases the only way you’d notice is by paying attention to the actual numbers on the package. What they’re counting on, of course, is that you’re used to paying $3 (for instance) for a tub of ice cream and that you won’t notice that you’re now only getting 1.75 quarts instead of 2. 
And I must admit, I’m used to knowing the prices of things not by the ounce cost but by the object cost, which I suspect is true of most other people. So it’s a plausible deception to pull off. And whenever I discover this, I always have the same reaction. “Man! I caught you trying to deceive me. Why can’t you just tell me the truth?” Just imagine how you’d react to find that the “gallon” size jug of milk was actually 120 ounces of milk inside instead of 128. I guess it’s true what my social studies teacher always taught us: caveat emptor. But it does seem quite sad. It’s a law that requires per unit pricing on labels (I think). I wonder if this new practice will lead to other legislative solutions, perhaps where per unit pricing will become the prominent figure like for gasoline. 
The new trick in the last few years is for food companies to keep the external package of some food item (like ice cream or cereal) the same, but to reduce the actual contents inside and keep the price the same so that the price-per-ounce goes up but the overall price of the object stays the same. In some cases, the container does change, and it feels a little weird, but in other cases the only way you’d notice is by paying attention to the actual numbers on the package. What they’re counting on, of course, is that you’re used to paying $3 (for instance) for a tub of ice cream and that you won’t notice that you’re now only getting 1.75 quarts instead of 2. 
And I must admit, I’m used to knowing the prices of things not by the ounce cost but by the object cost, which I suspect is true of most other people. So it’s a plausible deception to pull off. And whenever I discover this, I always have the same reaction. “Man! I caught you trying to deceive me. Why can’t you just tell me the truth?” Just imagine how you’d react to find that the “gallon” size jug of milk was actually 120 ounces of milk inside instead of 128. I guess it’s true what my social studies teacher always taught us: caveat emptor. But it does seem quite sad. It’s a law that requires per unit pricing on labels (I think). I wonder if this new practice will lead to other legislative solutions, perhaps where per unit pricing will become the prominent figure like for gasoline. 
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