Do your favourite store-bought waffles seem smaller? It’s not your imagination, and minister Rob Beenders wants to introduce a policy to make manufacturers own up
It’s known as shrinkflation – when the amount of the product consumers buy shrinks but the price remains the same. It can effect most any product – from yogurt to toilet paper to bars of Toblerone.
Some countries, including Italy and France, require manufacturers to inform consumers when their products shrink. And now Belgium’s minister responsible for consumer affairs wants such a requirement in Belgium.
“It’s unacceptable that manufacturers secretly reduce the contents of their products, while the price remains the same or even increases,” said Rob Beenders (Vooruit). Saying that “consumers are being deceived,” he feels that the approach damages consumer confidence and “undermines fair market practice.”
Beenders wants to introduce a policy that would require changes in content to be made public, possibly through a product label.