Canadians call out shrinkflation in popular brand of pasta sauce

Last year, Canadians called out the iconic Kraft Dinner for shrinkflation, with packs becoming 25 grams lighter.

Months later, people noticed that Kraft Heinz’s salad dressings had also become smaller, with only 425 ml of product instead of 475 ml.

Another classic Kraft product appears to have shrunk by 50 ml — Classico pasta sauces.

An Ontario-based TikTok user @andertam posted a video this weekend comparing two jars of pasta sauce she bought at different times.

“This is a little public service announcement for all my Classico-loving friends. I’m sure some of you have caught on to this already, but I went shopping for some sauce recently and thought, oh, look, Classico changed their labels. That’s so nice,” the Guelph resident said. “Nope. It’s shrinkflation — 650 ml to 600 ml. We are losing 50 ml for the same price now in the new Classico jar.”

Not only is 50 ml of pasta sauce missing, but the jars also appear to have a different lid—one that several commenters on @andertam’s video deem less reuse-friendly.

“If you’re shopping, look for the thicker lid and the 650 ml. There’s still some out there; grab them while you can before we’re paying more for less,” the video poster advised.

It must be noted, however, that different stores set retail prices, so you may be paying less, more, or the same depending on where you shop.

The most-liked comment on the video asks @andertam to compare the ingredients in both jars. In a follow-up video, the poster says her comparison may be inconclusive because she has different sauce flavours with varying ingredients.

Many Classico users also reported the sauce has seemed more watery recently.

“I have to mix w some cream cheese to make it more thicker :(” one person wrote on TikTok.

“I call it aqua-flation, where they bump water up the ingredients to save money,” another responded.

Kraft Dinner and salad dressing shrinkflation

Late last year, Kraft confirmed to CBC News that it had reduced the size of Kraft Dinner from 225 g to 200 g, citing inflationary pressures.

The move was made to “maintain quality products at an affordable price,” reads the CBC’s French-language shrinkflation tracker.

In April 2024, Canadian shoppers noticed that the brand’s salad dressing bottles also looked much smaller than usual.

A photo comparing the original 475-ml size of salad dressing and what seems to be a newly designed 425-ml bottle was posted on Reddit.

“The one on the left is old, being replaced with a smaller one. I know this is pretty common now, still frustrating to see,” wrote the original poster in the “Loblaws Is Out of Control” Reddit group.

“One day, we will go shopping and find travel-size food options as the new norm. Corporate greed, people,” wrote a commenter.

“500ml for decades, then 475ml during Covid, now 425ml a few years later! Disgusting practice, Kraft/Heinz!” said another.

The same month, a shopper spotted a similar scene at a Save-On-Foods.

We contacted Kraft regarding the salad dressing size, but the company never responded to our queries. However, a Reddit poster shared Kraft’s response about the smaller new bottle.

“Why is Kraft selling less for the same price after changing the shape of the bottle?” asked the person, attaching a photo of the bottles. “Keep in mind, I remember when the bottles went from 500ml to 475ml when I was younger. Just curious what the reason is. Thanks.”

“Thank you for contacting us about our recent package change to the Kraft Salad Dressing. This change will have no impact on the quality or freshness of the product. As manufacturers, we are prohibited by law from setting retail prices,” the company responded privately. “We appreciate you sharing your concerns with us, and we will forward your comments to the appropriate staff. It is our goal to continue to offer a variety of high-quality foods at the lowest possible cost to consumers. Have a great day.”

We contacted Kraft Heinz for comment on the Classico pasta sauce size changes.

“As Canada’s number one pasta sauce, our goal is always to offer quality products at an affordable price. We recently uncovered that nearly half of Canadians don’t finish their full-size jar of Classico. As such, we’ve updated our Classico Red & Meat Sauce from 650 ml to 600 ml,” a representative told us.

“The updated size has also resulted in a lower suggested promo price of C$2.97 (previously C$3.27) – providing more value to consumers with the same great-tasting product.”