It’s not just consumers who are faced with rising food prices. The companies that make the food are in the same boat, changing the recipe of their products to save money. Is our health at stake?
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“I draw the parallel with pesticides. All substances used in food are harmless on their own. But is the cocktail poisonous? illustrates the agronomist and economist Pascal Thériault from McGill University.
He talks about replacing whole ingredients with extracts, such as turning cocoa into cocoa extract and making a granola bar that no longer contains chocolate.
This phenomenon has a name: desqualiflation (in English “skimpflation”), a combination of the words quality and inflation, which means that the quality of a product is reduced.
It is the little brother of reflation, which consists of reducing the quantity of a product in the package and representing an increase in price.
The problem in both cases is that manufacturers are not required to declare this. “Old and new versions don’t mix. Even if we wanted to compare the ingredients, we can’t,” adds Mr Thériault.
We spend an average of 30 minutes in the supermarket, where there are 50,000 products, that is, we see 25 per second. “It is certain that we do not have time to look at the ingredients or remember them,” assures the expert.
Not new, but…
Although desqualification is nothing new, it always involves a loss of nutritional value of a product.
“When we replace whole ingredients with extracts, whether natural or not, we lose nutritional value and still do not know what impact this has on health,” explains nutritionist Isabelle Marquis.
The increasing spread of additives, fillers, colors and flavors has not yet been sufficiently scientifically researched so that the expert can make a decision.
But it is certain that the list of ingredients is getting longer and the risks are unknown if “you don’t have the whole original”.
Fruits becoming “fruit flavors,” whole milk becoming “milk extracts,” butter being replaced with vegetable oil… examples abound.
This loss of nutritional value can always be explained by economic reasons, emphasizes Ms. Marquis.
5 shocking examples of products that have changed
A price increase can have different aspects: for example, a reduction in the weight (reducing) of the product or a change in its recipe. Here are some recent cases.
The Gatorade recipe
Photo Julien McEvoy
It is not the weight of the product that is reduced, but rather its “lifespan”. About two months ago it was stated that the 560g makes up to 8 liters of the drink. Now it’s up to 7 liters. Pepsi, which owns Gatorade, assures that the recipe has not changed, just “tweaked.” One thing is certain: we are now going through the product more quickly.
ED Smith cake filling
Photo from ED Smith’s website
“This is the best example of deskilling right now,” says food expert Sylvain Charlebois about ED Smith’s pumpkin pie filling. Vegetable oil has recently moved from third to sixth place in the ingredient list. The company is now using more water as the liquid has just appeared in third place.
Häagen-Dazs ice cream
Photo from Häagen-Dazs website
The price of this product has doubled in one fell swoop. The well-known brand’s 500ml format was initially increased to 450ml, a loss of 10%, without also reducing the price. Then this new format is considered a snack and is therefore taxable. And now you get 15% more at the checkout.
Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Snack Bar
Photo from Quaker website
Home run for this product. The format has been increased from 156g to 120g (from 6 to 5 bars), which represents a significant price increase. It has also become a snack, so a taxable product: 15% more at the checkout. And finally, the milk chocolate was replaced with a “chocolate coating,” meaning the recipe was changed to contain less cocoa and fewer nutrients.
Barilla pasta
Photo from Barilla website
We know that the price of pasta has skyrocketed since the pandemic. A package that cost $1.49 is now worth $2.99, a 100% increase. An act of mercy? The packs at Barilla have been reduced from 454 to 410 g (10%).
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