has anybody noticed butter packages shrinking?

. Saw an ad for Land of Lakes 15 oz packages of butter! I am almost afraid to go to store to see what is shrinking next. I am not completely sure of this but at least it is an easier fix.

I believe what you're referring to is the 15 oz TUB of spreadable butter.  A mixture of butter and oil.

Sure hope so :-). Can't check it out today but will try to remember to check it out tomorrow.

It's really awful - I find it in everything.  You really have to watch your recipes too.  Yogurt used to come 8oz to a cup - now it's a 6 oz cup.  15 oz of ricotta cheese instead of 16 oz.  Cereal boxes are narrower but the face is the same so you don't notice. Soap bars are narrower shaped so they'll fit your hand nicer...and weigh less.  Someone showed a picture of the cardboard tube in toilet paper having a larger diameter than before, so you get less on a roll but the roll looks the same.

Manufacturers are getting pretty sneaky.  Really important to be a label reader.

Whadda RIP as far as the toilet paper is concerned !  I was comparing the stuff at Costco this week and package had HUGE banner...."NEW, WIDER ROLLS!!"  Oh ya, right.....what they FORGOT TO SAY WAS that the rolls are now SHORTER !!  And, yes, I noticed the larger TUBES when I changed rolls the other day, Sue.  Oh, package of hotdogs that formerly was 1 lb. is now14 oz.  The can't legally advertise as a one-pound package anymore but they'll find a way to get one's attention without actually calling attention to the specific weight.  BETCHA !

I am noticing everything is smaller and no one is saying anything about it. But it won't matter as they will do as they please. The cake mixes have really changed.

How I long for the days when we had REAL land line phones and Ma Bell and you just had to choose between TP colors because the rolls were all of the same size. Now they not only have larger cardboard rolls, bad quality paper, come in 4-5 different sizesand the rolls are narrower by almost 3/4".

Since I don't buy any prepared foods, dry cereals or any mixes or yogurt (make my own) I don't notice the smaller sizes so much except in caned veggies and fruits. At least they still sell potatoes, fresh fruit and veggies by the 16 oz lbs.

But I have found that our two stores CHEAT with meat weight. It may only be 1/2 to 3/4 oz  per package but it can sure add up in the long run. I have a jewelers scale that weighs down to 100 mg, conversion to oz is not difficult and that way I found out about the meat-cheat. The old saying that the butcher put his thumb on the scale when he weighs a roast is still true.........

I have friends who moved here from WA state. He was a truck driver who delivered produce up and down the I5 corridor and told me how much produce the large stores toss out because it is not PERFECT when the get it or after a day or two on display. Every day it  amounts to tons of good produce just because it does not look perfect.

Our 2 stores do NOT donate anything to the local food bank (it is open only one day ea. month).  My neighbor is a food bank volunteer and the only thing they ever get in donations are some pumpkins or winter squashes from private gardens, NOTHING else.

What is thrown away every day in the US would feed millions of people. Guess it will take another depression to put a stop to this throw away society.

Oooops, since this was supposed to be about butter: 1 lbs of butter (4 sticks) is still the same weight (hopefully) but you do get less butter fat because now the add more water and salt and leave more milk solids in the butter. You will notice all the water and milk solids spit and spatter all over when you try to clarify it.

Clarify today's butter and you will wind up with a LOT less pure butter fat than you did 10-20  yrs ago. For those who live  n/near  a large city: go to a store that sells food from India. The cost is about the  same but it is  more convenient to buy a jar of already clarified butter (Ghee) and keep a little of it  the fridge and some in the freezer.

gr_elo

For those who live  n/near  a large city: go to a store that sells food from India. The cost is about the  same but it is  more convenient to buy a jar of already clarified butter (Ghee) and keep a little of it  the fridge and some in the freezer.

Thank you Gr_elo. That is a great tip. I would never have thought of it.

As for the meat scales, all stores have people that come in and check the  scales very often, it's the law and the store can be  get into big trouble if they aren't right.  Maybe you should check your home scale, maybe it's wrong.

hein57

As for the meat scales, all stores have people that come in and check the  scales very often, it's the law and the store can be  get into big trouble if they aren't right.  Maybe you should check your home scale, maybe it's wrong.

Sorry, I don't have to check my jewelers scale. Just weighed a 100 mg multi vitamin tablet on it and it balances perfectly. It may be an older scale but it is an OHAUS balance bar scale made for jewelers and is sitting perfectly level.

About the meat cheat you are preaching to the choir because I used to be a meat wrapper in a Piggly Wiggly supermarket and know all the tricks of the trade. Different size trays have different weights and meat departments are supposed to set their scales so the trays are NOT calculated into the weight of the meat and soaker pads. Yet it is easy to put 2 trays on the scale, then only wrap the meat with ONE tray. All the time I worked as a meat wrapper there was not one inspection

.Stores don't have people who check the scales The inspections are done by inspectors  from the state departments of weights and measures and they never have enough inspectors to even inspect the scales in all store even once a year.

The saying that the butcher put his thumb on the scale is older than I am and that is older than dirt but it still good today, only the methods are different. One of our stores puts two trays and two soaker pads under each piece of meat and cheats that way because I bet their scale is set for one tray and one sokaer pad. I live in a very small town in the sparsely populated part of South west North Dakota, our two grocery stores have not seen an inspector for as long as we have lived here (15 yrs). The same goes for restaurants. The bowling alley stood empty for 12 yrs and has just now  re-opened their business and kitchen again without being inspected  and it most likely never will be. A friend works there and tells me what sad shape the equipment is in. The pizza oven is so bad they can';t even clean it any more yet it is still used. (One reason I don't  eat out).

If a store wants to cheat, they will do it, there are always ways to do it in some manner .I seldom buy meat in a store and if I do , it is not much so I don't bother calling the state to  come and inspect, most likely it would  not happen anyway.

What it boils down to: the scales in stores are correct, it is how they use them that is the problem. I suggest that the next tie you buy a package of meat, take it to a jewelry store before you take it home and have the jeweler weigh the meat on a jewelers scale WITHOUT the  tray and wrapping and see how you come out. Maybe not every store cheats but I can guarantee you that many of them do. 1/2 oz or only 1/4 oz a hundred (+?) mes each day does add up at the end of the month.