The thing about shrinkflation is that once you start noticing it, you can't stop. A box feels lighter than you remember. A bag of chips is somehow 75% air. Suddenly, you're checking ounces on every package in your pantry. So we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the most infuriating examples they had come across, and readers from across the US, Canada, and Europe chimed in with the receipts.
Here are some of the most infuriating shrinkflation stories readers shared (and good luck looking at your grocery cart the same way again):
Editor's Note: The examples are based on individual consumer experiences and perceptions shared by the BuzzFeed Community. While independent reporting has confirmed shrinkflation across many of the brands mentioned, other examples may reflect general price inflation, reformulation, batch variances, or package design updates rather than a deliberate reduction of product by the manufacturer.
1. "I have to sadly admit that I'm addicted to M&M's and recently bought a family-size bag at Walmart. It cost a bit more than $10. The cashier noticed the bag had shrunk considerably, and it had. Here is what AI just told me: 'Size reduction: The 17.2-ounce family-size bags were reduced to 14.6 ounces, representing a significant reduction in product while the price remained the same.'"
2. "I'm in Europe, but the most infuriating shrinkflation I caught in the wild was laundry powder. One day, I opened a new box and the scoop was different — it used to be round, and now it was square. It felt off, so I checked: The new scoop was 1.3 times bigger. Same box, same price, same dosing instructions — two scoops per load — but tricking me into using up the powder faster and buying more."
3. "Tuna cans are definitely smaller. I used to be able to make enough tuna salad for two decent sandwiches with one can. Now I can make only one sandwich and have only a tiny bit left. I also need to use two cans to make tuna casserole, one of my favorite comfort foods."
4. "Every year, I buy a twin bag of Kingsford charcoal from Sam's Club. Great price, and it covers all my cookouts through the summer. I paid the same this past March — my usual good deal, or so I thought. I got them home and put them next to the partial leftover from the previous year. It was 20 pounds per bag. The new ones I had just purchased were 16-pound bags. Sigh."
5. "Fat-food chicken nuggets. A month or so ago, they were regular-sized. Yesterday, I got 'Honey, I Shrunk the Nuggets.' They went from a two-bite nugget to a pop-the-whole-thing-in-your-mouth-and-wonder-where-the-rest-of-that-nugget-is nugget. But what I did get more of is money spent."
—Anonymous, 48, Female, Idaho
6. "Mini candy bars used to be $1 for six of them. Then it was $1.25 for five of them, and now it is $1.50 for four of them, and they are definitely thinner. This has been in the past two years."
7. "Granola bars went from six bars to four in a box, and yes, the price went up. Also, some brands' individual wrappers are the same size, but the bars are smaller. I contacted one manufacturer to ask about the lesser amount. The email response was that the number of bars is printed on the box. No kidding."
8. "Pie crusts have shrunk by at least 25%. Now one crust doesn't even begin to fill a pie plate. How is one supposed to make a pie without a full crust?"
9. "Cake and brownie mixes. You used to pay half of what a box costs today and get double the product. For instance, if you made a double-layered birthday cake in the past, one mix would accomplish the task. Today, it takes two boxes of mix, and you have that odd amount left over that you can't use in your existing pans — at nearly double the price."
10. "I made an 8-inch layer cake. The can of frosting is now 12 ounces. It was not enough frosting to cover the cake."
11. "Shrinkflation came for garbage bags, and it drove me batty until I ordered some from an office supplier. The dimensions changed to be more square than tall, as a square shape uses less plastic per gallon of capacity. Square bags always fall in the can. And if you look for higher-capacity bags, they actually have identical dimensions, and the supposed capacity comes from stretching them. Every brand at my grocery store does this now."
12. "Everyone, check your cotton swabs. Way less cotton on the swab. I feel like I am stabbing my eye with a stick."
13. "Vienna Fingers — package is the same size, but the tray inside now has empty space at both ends. Wegmans cereal — the box is the same size, but the bag is three-quarters the height of the box, and then the small bag is only half full. Terms like 'packed by weight, not by volume' and 'slack-fill' don't make the deception any less deceptive."
14. "I was at Costco a little more than a year ago and was buying paper towels. I noticed a difference in the packaging's feel. The newer product had 25 fewer sheets per roll. That amounts to an extra roll per package. When there are 12 rolls per package, that is significant."
15. "Any size bag of Hershey's Kisses. The party bag used to be 40 ounces; now it's 30 ounces. It's almost $15 now, when it used to be $8 for more."
16. "I went to Subway yesterday, and the bread is so much smaller. I used to be able to finish only half a footlong in a sitting, and I finished it yesterday and still had room. It was so small in my hands, too. I used to need to support it with two hands. Less food for the same price. Disappointing."
17. "A Dunkin' container of coffee went from 150 cups to 130 cups per container. However, that would have been only two carafes, when in fact I lost the equivalent of 12 carafes from a 14-cup coffeemaker."
18. "Most recently, I've noticed the protein content has gone down in Greek yogurt across all brands. It was $6 for a club-size tub of Greek yogurt with 16 grams of protein per serving not too long ago. Now we're paying $7.50 for an inferior, diluted product with only 10 grams of protein per serving."
19. "Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. They're smaller, and the chocolate around the outside is as thin as paper. So thin that it sticks to the wrapper more than it used to. Not worth buying anymore."
20. "Potato chips and all chips and brands, actually — party size is what the regular size was, but the price keeps going up."
21. "The cardboard center of a toilet paper roll is huge!"
22. "ChapStick. A tube used to last at least two months; now, maybe three weeks."
23. "Berries. The packs of raspberries and blackberries at the market used to be two layers tall. Now they are a single layer of berries, and the pack itself is smaller."
24. "Boxes of chocolates, the ones you generally get around Christmastime. Back in the '90s and 2000s, you could get a 1.5-kilogram box for about 8 pounds. The box of chocolates in 2026 is about 500 grams and costs about the same. The quality of the chocolate and the variety have gone downhill."
If reading this made you want to immediately go check the ounces on everything in your pantry, you are not alone. Did any of these examples hit particularly hard, or have you spotted shrinkflation somewhere we didn't cover? Share your thoughts, reactions, and your own infuriating examples in the comments or the anonymous form below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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