Toronto shopper claims grocery stores have found a new way to screw consumers
The topic of not just food inflation, but also shrinkflation has become a hot one among Canadians who are sick of seeing prices for groceries surge as portion sizes for some products appear to decrease.
Along with claims that producers are reducing food weights with clever packaging that disguises the change, there have been allegations that supermarkets are maintaining the same prices for smaller products, pushing back expiry dates, needlessly altering posted prices and changing the amounts in their house brand items, too.
Earlier this year, one Ontario shopper showed in TikTok how an unopened 325 g pack of Selection brand bacon from Metro only actually weighed 277 g, which some are calling just one of many types of "scamflation" that have become rampant across Canada's narrow grocery sector.
Now, another similar post is gaining traction on social media, with one Toronto resident claiming that a pre-packaged meal from Loblaws ended up coming with far less food than stated on the label.
Canadian calls out annoying 'shrinkflation' weight discrepancy on TikTok https://t.co/0Rw2F7pBiz
— blogTO (@blogTO) March 22, 2024
"Can somebody explain this to me?" the customer asked in the Yonge and Eglinton Community Facebook group over the weekend, showing photos of two pieces of salmon with everything bagel seasoning that they had bought on Thursday from the Loblaws at 101 Eglinton Ave. E, near Yonge.
In the photos, a $14 two-pack of raw salmon filets that was supposed to be 537 g can be seen clocking in at only 476 g on the individual's home scale in the container, and a mere 323 g outside of the packaging.
While some wondered if the product lost some water content while sitting on the shelf, others supposed that Loblaws may be counting the container and the garnishes included in the listed weight—something consensus seems to say is deceptive and shouldn't be allowed.
Alongside angry comments were pleas for one another to learn to stop shopping at Loblaws altogether due to their pricing and other practices, others proposed a deeper investigation due to the potential breaches this practice would pose to Ontario's Consumer Protection Act and/or Sale of Goods Act.
Alastair Wallace/Shutterstock
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