Outraged Oreo fans claim to have uncovered the latest shrinkage scandal and are accusing the company of secretly reducing the amount of cream in each cookie.
Shrinkflation – where a company reduces the size of a product yet charges the same amount – has haunted American consumers for years.
Oreos are just the latest in a line of products, including chips, toothpaste and even toilet paper, that have been accused of this practice.
And now fans have taken to social media to air their grievances, with TikTok and Reddit flooded with videos and photos of Oreos being opened to reveal measly portions of cream filling.
One post in the Reddit thread ‘Shrinkflation’ – which has over 100,000 members – reads ‘Blatant Oreo Shrinkflation’ and ‘Oreos now have much less cream?’
A TikToker filmed herself opening a pack of Double Stuf Oreos and comparing the filling to a regular Oreo: she wasn’t impressed
One X user even accused the president of being behind the scandal
The company behind Oreos, Mondelez, denies the amount of cream in its cookies has been reduced, with one expert blaming possible irregularities on production differences at individual factories.
Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put told The Wall Street Journal: “We would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we started playing with quality.”
Oreo is a $4 billion brand that sells nearly 40 billion cookies every year in more than 100 countries.
Van de Put added that Mondelez is closely monitoring its brands and has not noticed a significant increase in cream-related complaints.
Lynn Dornblaser, director of innovation and insight at market research firm Mintel, told the Journal that a review of regular and Double Stuf Oreos since 2004 found no observable changes in the ingredient and nutrition statements on packaging.
She said consumer complaints could reflect production problems at cookie factories.
But fans aren’t convinced.
Brandon Grunther, who runs a pro wrestling podcast, said he wondered, “Am I going crazy?” after opening a package of Double Stuf Oreos in June and noticing there was a lot less cream inside than he remembered.
He tagged Oreo in his Tweet and said they sent him a voucher for a new package, but he hasn’t used it yet.
Fans say the cream filling no longer reaches the edges of each cookie
One fan opened four cookies to compare the amount of cream filling in each cookie
Some consumers have even started their own forensic investigation, with one of them filming themselves opening a pack of Oreos and splitting a cookie in half to reveal a thin layer of cream.
One user commented: ‘Yes, less cream. The company should be fined for false advertising. The photo of the packaging no longer bears any resemblance to the product inside.’
Another outraged fan posted on TikTok: “Oh my god, shrinkflation is out of control. My daughter had to bring a snack for a group so we got a treat of Oreos.
‘This is not duplication, this is what was normal. This has to stop, this is madness.’
On
Another even blamed the president for the crisis, saying, “I noticed I had a few Oreos the other day, a message to cut down the middle. Not so good. Biden is causing shrinkflation.”
Another TikToker was shocked to discover the measly spread of cream in her supposedly Double Stuf Oreos
One Reddit user was horrified when he opened his package of cookies and found several with very small portions of cream
Another TikTok user said she bought a pack of doubles as a “treat.”
But she was shocked when she opened them and said, “This isn’t a double piece of Oreo.” That’s how Oreos used to be. But now the duplicate stuff is the old original.
“I don’t know what the originals look like, but I can imagine those – I can’t even imagine those Oreo thinners what they have in them.
‘Double stufs are therefore no longer double filled.
In addition to the accusations surrounding the amount of cream filling in Oreos, fans say the packaging has shrunk.
One Twitter user said: ‘This is their second round of shrinkflation. The first was that the pack size got smaller.”
A family pack of Double Stuf Oreos used to weigh 566 grams, while the newer, smaller pack weighs just 530 grams.
It is not the first time that Mondelez has come under fire for adapting its products.
Chocolate lovers vented their anger after Toblerone enlarged the gaps between the bar’s iconic triangular pieces to reduce the weight of the popular treat
In 2016, Chocolate fans were outraged after Toblerone enlarged the gaps between the bar’s iconic triangular tops as a cost-cutting measure to reduce weight.
The controversial change to the Swiss chocolate bar, which is only available in Britain, was made due to the ‘higher cost of ingredients’ such as cocoa.
The company discontinued the lighter rod two years later.
It comes at a time when contraction inflation continues to haunt American consumers amid rising costs of living.
Last year, Doritos admitted to reducing the number of chips in each bag, reducing the 9.75-ounce bag of cheesy snack to 9.25 ounces.
“Inflation affects everyone,” said a company representative: “We only took a little out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you can continue to enjoy your chips.”
Manufacturer Frito-Lay also tinkered with the sizes of other snacks, reducing their Tostitos with a Side of Guacamole Chips by one ounce, from 12 to 11 ounces, and their Hint of Lime option by a whopping two ounces, from 13 ounces to just 11 ounces. .
Record inflation has pushed up production costs for companies like Frito-Lay, prompting some executives to downsize products or raise prices to stay out of the red.
Before/After: A Frito-Lay company representative explained the company’s decision to reduce the size of the 9.75-ounce bag of the cheesy snack (seen on the left) to 9 last year. 25 ounces
Oreos are the latest in a series of products accused of downsizing
Inflation peaked at 9.1 percent in June 2022 and then fell to 3.7 percent in September, although inflation is still nearly double the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
Other notable brands that have “downsized” their products in recent months include Charmin, Bounty, Gatorade, Crest, Wheat Thins, Quaker, Ziploc and Dial.
“Crisis comes in waves, and it usually happens during times of elevated inflation,” consumer advocate and ConsumerWorld.org editor Edgar Dworsky told Quartz about the phenomenon, which is becoming more common as inflation rises.
“The bottom line is being squeezed and there are three basic options: raise the price immediately, take a little bit out of the product or reformulate the product with cheaper ingredients,” the consumer expert said.