SKIMPFLATION INGREDIENT EXAMPLES
Information updated September 2023
A special report for the savvy readers of Consumer World.
Did you know that almost every #1 food and beverage brand in the U.S. has changed their ingredients?
Have you ever tasted one of your favorite things and noticed it doesn’t taste the way you expect? You ask yourself, “What has happened?!” and then you quickly realize . . . the ingredients have changed.
Why do companies keep changing their formulas? As avid readers of Consumer World, we all know the answer >> Skimpflation.
In these cases, it is often food and beverage manufacturers switching to cheaper ingredients to increase profit thereby decreasing the value to their users. Sometimes companies also add something to their formulas, generally chemical preservatives to extend the product shelf life and increase the viable sales window.
Mr. Consumer asked Ingredient Inspector.org to please share some detailed examples with his readers:
CAMPBELL’S SOUP
Similar to the majority of the largest food companies in the U.S, the CAMPBELL’S SOUP COMPANY often changes ingredients. Below is a Then vs. Now snapshot of Campbell’s Condensed Potato Soup. (Sources: Historical Campbell’s Cream of Potato Soup Label; Campbell’s Web site 9/23)
Ingredients are always listed in descending order of amount.
Once upon a time, Potatoes were the first ingredient in Campbell's Cream of Potato Soup — shown below left. Today, Water is the primary ingredient — below right.
Even though the directions for preparation call for adding Water or Milk, Water is now the #1 ingredient in Campbell’s Cream of Potato Soup.
The product also contains multiple ingredients we would never use in a homemade Cream of Potato Soup including Modified Corn Starch as the third ingredient, Wheat Flour as the fourth ingredient, Dried Potatoes, Whey, Corn Oil, Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, MSG, Soy Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract and commercial Natural Flavoring.
See how Campbell’s Tomato Soup has changed and discover some Tomato Soups whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade:
HEINZ KETCHUP
HEINZ KETCHUP was once Closest To Homemade: Decades ago, Heinz Ketchup was made in a glass bottle with only four ingredients including Cane Sugar as an added sweetener — shown below left. (Source: Historical Heinz Ketchup Print Advertisement)
Now, Heinz Ketchup is made with eight ingredients including Tomato Concentrate plus added “Natural Flavoring” and two added sweeteners >> High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup. (Source: Kraft Heinz Heinz Web site 9/23) According to the USDA 2023, 92% of U.S. Corn is genetically modified. Heinz Tomato Ketchup is banned at Whole Foods Market because it contains High Fructose Corn Syrup which Whole Foods cites as “Unacceptable in food.” (Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 9/23)
PEARL MILLING COMPANY SYRUP
PEARL MILLING COMPANY (formerly AUNT JEMIMA) IS CURRENTLY THE #1 BRAND OF SYRUP IN THE U.S. Once upon a time, Aunt Jemima Syrup contained real Sugar and real Maple Sugar Syrup — shown below left. (Sources: Statista 2023; Historical Aunt Jemima Glass Bottle)
The ingredients for Pearl Milling Company Syrup — below right — include four ingredients banned at Whole Foods Market >> High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Benzoate and Sorbic Acid. (Source for ingredients: PepsiCo Aunt Jemima/Pearl Milling Company Web site 9/23; Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 9/23)
There is no longer any real Sugar or Maple Sugar Syrup as originally were in Aunt Jemima Syrup.
This Pearl Milling Company Syrup today from PepsiCo is Corn Syrup + High Fructose Corn Syrup + Water + Cellulose Gum + Flavors + Colors + three Chemical Preservatives including Sodium Hexametaphosphate and Sodium Benzoate.
If High Fructose Corn Syrup + Water sound familiar as big ingredients in an item that’s because Pepsi is primarily Water + High Fructose Corn Syrup. (Source for ingredients: PepsiCo Web site 9/23)
That’s why PepsiCo is also in the Pancake + Waffle Syrup business >> many of PepsiCo’s sodas are also made with corn-based Syrups. According to Food Processing, PepsiCo is the #1 food + beverage company in the U.S. with total company sales of over $67 billion dollars.
HERSHEY’S SYRUP
As a way to increase the appeal of milk among children, Hershey’s Syrup was initially linked to children’s health:
For those of you old enough to remember . . . omigosh, remember it used to come in a can?
Today — lower right — Hershey’s Syrup has only four out of 12 ingredients we would use at home to make chocolate syrup.
Hershey’s Syrup contains three ingredients banned at Whole Foods. (Source for Hershey’s Syrup ingredients: Hershey’s Hersheyland Web site 9/23; Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 9/23)
The #1 ingredient in Hershey’s Syrup is High Fructose Corn Syrup which is a Not In Kitchen™ ingredient >> we never have High Fructose Corn Syrup in our home kitchens >> it is a commercial-grade sweetener which is less expensive than sugar. HFCS is banned at Whole Foods along with Potassium Sorbate which is a Chemical Preservative recognized by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (Source: U.S. FDA 2023).
Hershey’s Syrup also contains Vanillin with an ‘in’ which is an Artificial Flavor plus Monoglycerides, Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum and Polysorbate 60.
When it comes to ingredients, the price we are paying is not just dollars and cents. Unfortunately, these changes to less healthy options are at the root of many diseases on the rise in the U.S.
FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, THERE ARE MULTIPLE DANGERS ASSOCIATED WTIH HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Consider watching the Ingredient Inspector video on High Fructose Corn Syrup to understand more about concerns surrounding its propagation and consumption:
AMAZON WHOLE FOODS
And we leave you with an example of ingredient changes among the many made by Amazon since their acquisition of Whole Foods to the Whole Foods 365 line of products.
AMAZON REMOVED THE REAL ORGANIC ALMONDS IN WHOLE FOODS 365 ORGANIC HONEY NUT MORNING O’s
In 2018, Whole Foods Organic Honey & Nut Morning O’s — below left —contained real Organic Almonds. In 2019, Amazon reduced the amount of real Almonds and then eliminated them completely in 2021. (Source: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 1/18, 2/19, 5/21 and 9/23)
On the Whole Foods Web site page for this cereal, Amazon states, “The best ingredients should be the standard, not the exception”. Meanwhile, Almonds are no longer listed in the ingredients, just the flavor of Almonds.
See the Ingredient Inspector in the NBC News story on Skimpflation which includes our discovery that Whole Foods has been changing ingredients since the acquisition by Amazon:
See some examples of Shrinkflation:
Discover food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.
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