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What Is This? A Supermarket for Ants?

As if inflation isn’t enough to deal with, companies have decided to add insult to injury by shrinking products without lowering prices. It’s called “shrinkflation,” and it’s getting out of hand. While this sneaky tactic has been around for years, the current rise in costs has driven companies to downsize more of their products, from boxes of Kleenex to bottles of Gatorade. It’s clever because consumers aren’t likely to notice that a container is a few ounces lighter. But shoppers have taken notice — and so have we. Here’s a look at some of the products that have shrunk mysteriously in the past few months.


Related: Ways Companies Trick You Into Spending More Money

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Kleenex

Original Size: 65 tissues per box

Shrinkflated Size: 60 tissues per box


We hope you don’t have any bad breakups planned for this summer, because Kleenex has downsized its box of tissues by five. While that may not seem like much, every last tissue counts when you’ve got a bad case of the blues or seasonal allergies.


Related: Viagra, Kleenex, and Other Products Originally Invented for Another Purpose

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Cottonelle Ultra Clean Care Toilet Paper

Original Size: 340 sheets per roll

Shrinkflated Size: 312 sheets per roll


What difference does a few dozen sheets of toilet paper make? We don’t want to go there, but sometimes every sheet counts.


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Gatorade

Original Size: 32 ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 28 ounces


PepsiCo, which owns Gatorade, also had a response to shrinkflation claims: Their switch to easier-to-hold smaller bottles was planned long before inflation hit, PepsiCo told The Associated Press. When the AP asked about the concurrent price increase, the company didn’t have an answer.

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Fritos Scoops ‘Party Size’

Original Size: 18 ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 15.5 ounces


Fritos Scoops “Party Size” packets are now 2.4 ounces lighter. Make sure to account for that the next time you have people over — reduce your guest list by 14%.

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Pantene Pro-V Curl Perfection Conditioner

Original Size: 12 fluid ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 10.4 fluid ounces


With Pantene downsizing its conditioner, it might be time to start using 2-in-1 shampoo. Of course, there’s no guarantee that that won’t be shrinkflated too.

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Earth’s Best Organic Sunny Day Snack Bars

Original Size: eight bars

Shrinkflated Size: seven bars


The next time you open this box of snack bars, you might be surprised to find seven instead of eight bars. At least seven is a lucky number.

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Keebler’s Chips Deluxe with M&Ms

Original Size: 11.3 ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 9.75 ounces


With its cute, elven mascot, it’s hard to believe that Keebler would join in on the shrinkflation craze. Then again, Keebler is owned by Ferraro, the same company that downsized Nutella.

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Dove Body Wash

Original Size: 24 fluid ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 22 fluid ounces


Discerning shoppers might notice that Dove’s body wash is a tad lighter. One proposition from columnist Joe Blundo? Change the name from Dove to “Sparrow” to match the smaller product.

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Snyder’s Pretzels

Original Size: 12 ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 11.5 ounces


We can’t be too mad at Snyder’s for downsizing its pretzels by less than an ounce. That said, we don’t exactly like the idea of being misled, and this recent change coincided with a rebrand that looked like an attempt to obscure the change. Same great taste, smaller package.

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Daiya Vegan Shreds

Original Size: 8 ounces

Shrinkflated Size: 7.1 ounces


You’d think vegans would be above shrinkflation, but Daiya, the company behind a variety of non-dairy cheeses, has reduced the size of its vegan shreds by 0.9 ounces … and branded it as a new product.


Related: Ways to Save at the Grocery Store