Spotting the steadily shrinking contents inside your favorite food containers

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Youdle) - Shrinkflation—where the bag stays the same size but the content disappears—hit a peak this year. The Consumer Protection Journal caught major brands dropping 10oz bags down to 9.5oz and coffee tubs from 12oz to 10.5oz without changing the price.

The Scoop: A U.S. GAO report says we usually don't notice these tiny drops, but they secretly eat about 10% of our budget. Brands are even redesigning boxes to be "taller but narrower" to trick the eye.

What Should We Do?

Ignore the big price on the front. Look for the Unit Price on the bottom corner of the shelf tag. It’s the only way to win. Use this formula in the photo above if you’re unsure. This photo shows a typical grocery store shelf tag, but with a helpful "cheat sheet" added to the middle to explain how to save money.

Here is the simple breakdown of what you are seeing:

• The Big Price ($4.99): This is the Total Price. This is the amount of money you will actually pay at the register for that one box of cereal.

• The Weight (28oz): Right next to the cereal name, you see "28oz." This is the Total Ounces inside the box.

• The Unit Price ($0.18): Look at the smaller number on the right. This is the Unit Price. It tells you that for every single ounce of cereal in that box, you are paying 18 cents.

• The Formula (Yellow Bar): The text in the yellow bar is the "secret math" the store does for you. It shows that if you take the Total Price ($4.99) and divide it by the Weight (28oz), you get that 18-cent Unit Price.

Why should you care?

The Unit Price is the only way to tell if a "Big Family Size" box is actually a better deal than a "Regular" box.

Sometimes, a big box looks like a bargain, but when you look at the Unit Price, you might see it costs $0.22 per ounce, while a smaller box is only $0.18 per ounce.

The Goal: To save the most money, always look for the item with the lowest Unit Price, regardless of how big or small the box looks!

Bottom Line: If that number jumped, it’s time to find a new brand for your club.

Be sure to use the Youdle grocery product search engine to check the lowest prices on your groceries.

If you want to help other shoppers, share your grocery adventures and join the conversation in the Youdle Community.

Bookmark the Youdle news page to keep up with important grocery trends.