I have been exposing examples of “shrinkflation” for many years now – instead of putting up the price of an existing product, manufacturers re-package it in a slightly smaller pack in the hope we consumers do not notice.
We always do, of course, but they persist with their sneakiness, in the name of making their products “more affordable”, anyway.
There’s another way they keep a lid on prices or give us a “better value proposition” – they formulate their products to give us less of the key (expensive) ingredients.
If you never read labels or question the composition of processed food – especially meaty products – you’ll be none the wiser.
I daresay, for example, that most consumers don’t know that “braaiwors” isn’t just a cute variation of the word “boerewors”.
To be called boerewors, that sausage has to contain no less than 90% meat – beef with lamb, pork or a mixture of the two – and a fat content of no more than 30%.
That’s why it’s relatively pricey.
If you see the word “braaiwors” on a pack, at an apparently good price, don’t assume you’re getting a bargain – it’s called braaiwors because it contains up to 40% soya.
The industry calls this “extension”, and what it means is the product is a lot less meaty, hence the lower price.
Luisa Oliveira wrote to In Your Corner about a 400g pack of I&J Out O’ the Oven crumbed fish, a product she’d been buying for her son as “a more nutritious alternative to fish fingers”.
But when she removed the crumb coating from a portion, she was “shocked to discover how little fish there really was”. So she got her scale out.
“The coating portion on its own weighed 24g and the thin fish portion on its own just 17g! So the product is more batter than fish.”
But the label suggested the fish was the main ingredient, so I bought and baked the product myself, according to pack instructions.
I found that the fish portion outweighed the coating component, but only slightly.
Responding, I&J said the product was one of its best-selling fish products “based on its affordability and value for money”.
The product has a fish content of about 57% “in the frozen format”, the company said.
Oliveira’s experience was probably due to her cooking method, I&J said – convection oven followed by grilling, instead of the suggested baking or frying, which made the fish lose too much moisture.
Incidentally, legally a “par-fried fish portion” must comprise at least 50% of fish uncooked.
That’s not a lot of fish!
Only by getting into the habit of comparing the meat content of such processed products – fish portions, sausages, patties – will you get a real sense of what your spend is buying you.
As I revealed in this column recently, there is no legislated minimum meat content for burger patties – classified as “raw processed meat”.
As a result, the country’s biggest selling frozen beef patties – I&J Beefers – comprise just 36% beef.
What of furry consumers?
PET food labels are full of meaty words and images – dogs and cats being carnivorous – but the meat content is actually minimal.
Here’s what those descriptions on the packs mean in terms of legislated meat content, using beef as the example:
- “With beef flavour” – up to 4% beef;
- “With beef” – at least 4% beef;
- “High/rich in or with extra beef – at least 14% beef.
CONTACT WENDY:
E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za
Twitter: @wendyknowler
Beware the pitfalls of ‘shrinkflation’
We always do, of course, but they persist with their sneakiness, in the name of making their products “more affordable”, anyway.
There’s another way they keep a lid on prices or give us a “better value proposition” – they formulate their products to give us less of the key (expensive) ingredients.
If you never read labels or question the composition of processed food – especially meaty products – you’ll be none the wiser.
I daresay, for example, that most consumers don’t know that “braaiwors” isn’t just a cute variation of the word “boerewors”.
To be called boerewors, that sausage has to contain no less than 90% meat – beef with lamb, pork or a mixture of the two – and a fat content of no more than 30%.
That’s why it’s relatively pricey.
If you see the word “braaiwors” on a pack, at an apparently good price, don’t assume you’re getting a bargain – it’s called braaiwors because it contains up to 40% soya.
The industry calls this “extension”, and what it means is the product is a lot less meaty, hence the lower price.
Luisa Oliveira wrote to In Your Corner about a 400g pack of I&J Out O’ the Oven crumbed fish, a product she’d been buying for her son as “a more nutritious alternative to fish fingers”.
But when she removed the crumb coating from a portion, she was “shocked to discover how little fish there really was”. So she got her scale out.
“The coating portion on its own weighed 24g and the thin fish portion on its own just 17g! So the product is more batter than fish.”
But the label suggested the fish was the main ingredient, so I bought and baked the product myself, according to pack instructions.
I found that the fish portion outweighed the coating component, but only slightly.
Responding, I&J said the product was one of its best-selling fish products “based on its affordability and value for money”.
The product has a fish content of about 57% “in the frozen format”, the company said.
Oliveira’s experience was probably due to her cooking method, I&J said – convection oven followed by grilling, instead of the suggested baking or frying, which made the fish lose too much moisture.
Incidentally, legally a “par-fried fish portion” must comprise at least 50% of fish uncooked.
That’s not a lot of fish!
Only by getting into the habit of comparing the meat content of such processed products – fish portions, sausages, patties – will you get a real sense of what your spend is buying you.
As I revealed in this column recently, there is no legislated minimum meat content for burger patties – classified as “raw processed meat”.
As a result, the country’s biggest selling frozen beef patties – I&J Beefers – comprise just 36% beef.
What of furry consumers?
PET food labels are full of meaty words and images – dogs and cats being carnivorous – but the meat content is actually minimal.
Here’s what those descriptions on the packs mean in terms of legislated meat content, using beef as the example:
CONTACT WENDY:
E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za
Twitter: @wendyknowler
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