Has anybody noticed this shortage in the US ?? :)
 

This morning, I opened a new package of Charmin toilet paper, took one roll out and literally took a double take. Something was wrong with the roll !! It appeared that it had gone on a diet. I immediately retrieve the empty cardboard roll that I had toss into the trash container and compared them. My new Charmin was a HALF AN INCH shorter!! the toilet paper roll is now as wide as my hand (4"). Next time I go to buy toilet paper, I guess I will need to use my hand to measure the width of the TP. So much for Mega rolls !! They've have gone on a diet !!!

I haven't noticed that but have noticed that those "mega" rolls grow smaller each year. I had a package at the back of my storage that I must have bought several years ago. The same package I purchased just a few days ago was definitely/considerably smaller. So manufacturers are doing something.

Yep, my family discuss this a lot. The cardboard roll has become larger too. They have cut at least an inch off of the tp. Gripes me! They think they are fooling us. Coffee, flour, tp, candies, everything is that way. I used to be able to feed 4 of us on one can of green beans. Now it takes 3. And I called the co. on it. All the good it did was I got a coupon. Well, I have more than green beans. LOL

Isn't that what they do with pretty much everything? Keep the price the same but give us less product. Remember when a can of coffee was 1 lb.

I definitely noticed this! My sister was comparing some Charmin that she had stockpiled to some that she had just bought & the new stuff was a good 1/2" smaller! We were recently comparing TP at Costco & the Charmin said on the label something like "new size" & it was the same size as the Costco brand. I suspect it was the same size as it used to be.

I agree with quiltsrfun....just about everything has been downsized - same size "wrappers" but not the same volume or weight. http://www.today.com/id/40915489/ns/...ized-products/

http://www.newsnet5.com/money/consum...-at-same-price

If any product gets new packaging, you can bet the new one is smaller. I did pricing for a grocery chain for 16 years (quit about 3 years ago) and every year things were getting smaller. Does anyone remember when a bag of Hershey Kisses was 16 ounces? It was mid to late 90's when I first started in the pricing department. I had to include weights or quantities on all pricing signs I printed so I saw the decrease first hand. It has only gotten worse over the years. I noticed some "family sized" cereal boxes that were the size the regular cereal boxes used too be in the store a couple of months ago.

I have a tall go-cup for when I take a soda with me in the car. I like to use a straw in the hole on the top. The last package of straws that I bought did not even go to the top of the cup! They have shrunk the straws by an inch or so from the last box that I bought. So, I had to measure my cup and now I take a teeny tape measure with me when I go to the store just so that I can get a box of straws that are long enough.

The packages say "New size!!!!!" like it is wonderful news for us!

remember when a gallon of icecream was a gallon?

Funny you should mention ice cream. The other day I told my daughter to just buy the half gallon carton of ice cream, and she laughed said there are no half gallons they are one and half quarts now. When did that happen? I don't buy it very often, and that was news to me.

Making smaller food products is to put us all on. A diet without knowing it.
In UK last week a discussion was about reducing sugar in food and telling us how much we can have a day.
Has anyone noticed how fabric appears to be reducing in width. I'm sure it was 44"at one time now 42" but I had a 40" the other day.

And I thought it was just me thinking they were shorter! I had a coupon so I bought Charmin and didn't notice until I went to replace an empty roll. I guess it's just like everything else, prices going up and getting less.

I remember my mother telling me that when she was a kid a candy bar cost a nickel and was twice the size of the ones we were getting. Reducing the size of the product has always been a method of offering less for the same or greater price. I'm 74 and the "king size" candy bars they sell today were the norm when I was a kid. They keep it up they will all be bite-sized. :D

I agree. They are cutting down the sizes on everything and keeping the prices the same or slightly higher. My used-to-be 6 ounce can of tuna is now 5 ounces as of last night when I realized it.

And what's sad is there is nothing we can do about it, save boycotting the products. However, I'm thinking toilet paper is one product we really have to have!! I can't imagine what it will be like by the time our grandkids are our age!

Oh Lynnie and Quiltingcandy, you are so right. Now when you say "I am going to go get a half of gallon of ice cream", you are getting 1.5 quarts !! Ice cream is sold by the quart or half a gallon. They can't cut the size down to a quart. Wonder what they are going to do?? Saw Dreyer's for $5.99 for a quart and a half at the grocery store. NO WAY !!

Yep....I've been watching the "toilet paper scam" for years........double rolls are now smaller than the original standard roll of years gone by.
It really is an insult to my intelligence when I read "Twice as much for the same price blah blah blah".
I have noticed that they not only are gettting shorter as the first poster points out but the roll of cardboard itself is now wider. Just can't win can we!

I bought a pkg. of printer paper recently that was "on sale". It wasn't until I opened it that I disovered it had 100 sheets less.
Dodee

just like when ice cream was shorted..and i as a comsuemer , i am smart enough to notice

I noticed the same thing last time I bought TP!! Trickery at its best!!!

You can, also, notice it when cooking from old recipes that no longer turn out "the way they use to".....

A 5 lb. bag of Gold Medal flour is now 4 lbs.

Did they think we would not notice the TP? We are all putting in on a holder that is made for TP as it was years ago, you can see the empty space on either side.

I am so cheap I bypass the 1.5 quart ice cream and get the 5 quart in a plastic pail. Check the price per ounce on the shelf tags. Not premium but I add my homemade hot fudge sauce.

As long as we don't have to go back to using corncobs and the Sears I'll be happy. I measured my tp roll and it only measures 4". Never measured before but DH noticed. Friend one day said oh it's just that we're older and bigger that items seem so much smaller. Nope we are paying more for much less! I have a tape measure with me all the time and when I go into the fabric dept. I always measure. Once a bolt said 44" and was 42. I asked for a discount since it was "irregular." They said no and took it off the floor. Said they would have to send it back to the manufacturer or need to get permission reduce the price.

I noticed the TP diet a few months ago. I switched to White Cloud, it's soft but I think it's only sold at Wal-Mart. I don't like the quality of clothing being sold in the stores. Some of it is so thin I swear it will dissolve in the washing machine. The prices have gone up but the quality is way down. After one washing it seems the garment has shrunk and is all wonky. I'm talking about clothing purchased at Macy's not at the big discount stores.

My old pkg Northern Quilted tp had 332.6 sq ft or 242 2-ply sheets, 9 roll.
My new pkg same name has 253.3 sq ft or 190 2-ply sheets, 9 roll.
Quite a difference.

My Pop's was making the same complaint about his paper towels. I don't use paper towels but I have noticed the TP is getting shorter. I have noticed a lot of things getting smaller and costing more. A 1lb pack of bacon is now only 10 oz and cost $4.89. I got to noticing a lot of 10oz pounds Which set me to thinking about the bathroom scale I now only weigh 72lbs So I can now eat all the cookies and chocolate bars I want : )

Yes, I noticed Charmin was shorter. Bacon sold 12 Ozs instead of a pound (16 ozs). They even raise the prices. I think they are all motivated by greed and deception, look at the candy bars and just about everything else we buy.

Yes, we experienced the same observation when opening the new package of Charmin!

This is a way to hold off inflation, I think. The next step would be to increase prices.

Every time a product changes containers looks or gives us a new, improved whatever, check the size/quantity!

When we moved to our new house (almost 14 years ago now!), I bought a cute bird cage that I put in the 1/2 bath. In this, I put two rolls of toilet paper. This was only for show since I had other paper in there to change out when necessary (in plain sight I might add). But lo and behold, after my sister-in-law was here, one of my rolls was missing from the bird cage. Now, keep in mind that they had been in there for years at that point. When I put another roll in (after fuming under my breath) I was shocked at the difference in rolls!

And even since then, I've noticed the shrinking roll.
Let us not even talk about coffee!

It is everywhere. Gotta be SURE to check the size and quantity. I just bought yarn for a sweater I have made several times ... only to find that each new skein now has 13 yards less than before.

This reminds me of the sugar bag going from 5 lbs to 4 and the cereal boxes lasting a week that now last 3 days. It was funny and ironic to read this today! DH and I chuckled this past week when we went to the local large retailer to pick up TP and other bulk items. Didn't matter which one I picked up to look at in pricing or size, squeezing those rolls did not make them feel like they used to. (DH took the cart to another aisle, laughing histerically as it took me over 20 minutes to decide. I was merely trying to prove a point.) Couldn't have been a year or so ago our preferred brand was so much thicker and lasted longer than 2 days in our house. It costs the same for a package of TP that lasts a month as it does for a prescription medicine we can't do without. If we get down to our last dollars, it may be hard to choose.

As prices have gone up and sizes of products gone down, perhaps this is a way for the companies and stores to get the consumers shopping more often. We budget for the difference in price on a product we must have, but do we really go into the store for just a pkg of TP? Nope, usually pick up more. Who wins?

Yeah--remember when the standard measure was a pint, a quart, AND a 5# bag of sugar!

My husband checks everything and complains about the reduction in quantity, guess all this relates to their cost plus
so many things have been required of companies . IT's the OB plan to keep us from being fat:thumbdown:.

Yes I agree with all of you. on all things, paper toweling, TP candy bars, sugar, flour, I am wondering has anyone ever checked yarn that says 4 ply. Are the plys as thick as they used to be?
I bought copy paper at Staples as there was a rebate of $21. that made each ream only $1.00. So I expected a rebate check in the mail. I received a Staples Debit Visa card. Says a card acct maintenance fee of $3.00 Cancellation & Manual check issuance Fee $2.50 I can use this anyplace. don't have to be at staples. I intend to go to Staples- use up my $21. and tell them I DO NOT WANT THEIR CARD. I have 3 credit cards and none of them has a maintenance fee. I pay them before the due date.
Companies use all kinds of tricks. Some people pay no attention but there are those of us that do.
I use Miracle II soap, Moisturizing soap, Neutralizer, Skin Moisturizer, Use these products for shampoo, toothpaste, bathing, hand dish washing, Use a laundry ball, use butter, (margarine is one molecule away from plastic) coconut oil,
(yes it is saturated but it is very good for you) Himalayan Salt (this is good for you also - contains 84 minerals) I do not buy the salt at the grocery store anymore). I could go on and on but I think you get the point. You do not have to buy the stuff they put all the chemicals in that are not good for you.
I have a hard time finding clothes made in the USA. BUT SAS shoes are made in San Antonio, TX ! you cannot buy clothes without trying them on as a size in one brand is different from another brand. Try them on.

Same with restaurants... when your favorites announce a "new menu" coming out... watch for higher prices. The only reason for a new menu is to raise prices on the old stuff.

Any time a product says new and improved you can bet they have either removed something from it or made it smaller. It's too bad we don't just refuse to buy them. If there was just one that all refused they would have to go back to the original and then we could start something else. But trying to get people to do that is not workable anymore.

I won't buy the yogurt or other plastic containers that have a big well in the bottom of it. You think you are getting the full container but you aren't.