Next time you go to the supermarket, pick up a can of chunk light tuna fish and shake it close to your ear. You will hear a lot of sloshing around of water, making it sound like there is more ocean than tuna in the can.

That is not far from the truth. This past summer, three California district attorneys filed a lawsuit against the makers of Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, and Starkist tuna alleging that they were putting less fish in their cans than the label promised. The companies agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle the cases.

Now, Chicken of the Sea has come out with “no-drain” tuna in a can:

*MOUSE PRINT:

The new no-drain tuna comes in a tiny four-ounce can (compared to the now common five-ounce can, which used to be six-ounces, which used to be seven-ounces, and a few other sizes in between).

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But it is not just tuna that is water-laden. Consumer Reports decided to check 63 cans of vegetables, fruit and chicken to see how much food was in the can and how much was water.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The results: they found water comprised 34 – 48 percent of the contents! And, that amount of water was totally legal based on federal standards.

Here is a video of their tests.

Just about a year ago, we wrote about Save-a-Lot, a limited assortment grocery chain, that was promoting their Facebook page. They promised to give shoppers a $5 coupon to use at their supermarket if you “liked” them. See our story, “Save-a-Lot’s Deceptive Facebook Promotion.”

Only after you “liked” them, did they disclose that the coupon was really buy $25 worth of groceries, and get $5 off.

So, we pointed out this omission to them, and after a little pestering, they quickly updated the promotion to clearly disclose that this was a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon.

Fast forward to November 2012. On the homepage of Save-a-Lot, they were giving thanks to their shoppers saying “To give thanks and help you enjoy this season with your family, we are giving you a $5 coupon.”

When you click on that ad, you are taken to the company’s Facebook page, where the promotion is shown again:

And when you “like” their Facebook page, you discover this:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Yep, same old thing… you have to buy $25 worth of groceries in order to save the $5.

How could a company that was called on the carpet just a year ago for the very same deceptive practice not learn how to tell their customers the truth upfront about their $5 off coupons? We immediately notified the company of the recurring problem, but heard nothing. About a week later, we contacted them again, and were informed that they changed their ad right after receiving the first email:

When we replied to the company with the hope that they do it correctly and legally next year, their PR person replied:

“Legally the information is posted on the offer once the click through is made and the offer itself is not misleading. However, we understand your concern for it on the banner, as our desire is never to intentionally confuse our customers.” — Save-a-Lot Spokesperson

It is amazing to me that companies believe because they disclose a key fact or limitation SOMEWHERE that that is sufficient and legal notice to the consumer.

Last week, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer covered the issue of downsized grocery products spotlighting those discovered by MrConsumer and Mouse Print* readers (see their pictures). Click the picture below to view the video:

Here are some more examples:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Kellogg’s recently reduced the sizes of its raisin bran cereal. In this case, it went from 15 oz. to 13.7 oz., but miraculously, it still has two scoops of raisins. (They must be using smaller scoops.)

*MOUSE PRINT:

Kashi Strawberry Fields cereal recently downsized from 10.4 ounces to 10.3 ounces. Big deal, you say. But wait, there’s more, as Ron Popeil would say. A quick look at the nutrition label reveals that the old box gave you nine one-cup servings of cereal, but the new one only gives you five cups. What happened? They reformulated the product by adding more whole grains. That made the flakes denser and heavier. And they are still charging $4.59 a box even though you are getting over 40% fewer servings. Thanks to Jenn Z. for the tip on Kashi.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Both Pillsbury and Duncan Hines followed Betty Crocker’s lead (which we reported on here) and downsized their 18.25 ounce cake mixes. They still claim to make 24 cupcakes and the same size cakes, but as our Pillsbury test on ABC revealed, there was barely enough batter for 21.

As the price for raw materials and transportation continues to go up, manufacturers will continue to downsize their products. It is up to us to catch their packaging shenanigans, because they certainly are not going to tell us “look smaller size” or “look, sneaky price increase.”

Summer is a great time for drinking a refreshing fruit punch. This one, CapriSun “All Natural” Tropical Punch, looks particularly good because the front of the package shows pineapple, orange, bananas and strawberries. The back of the box shows additional fruit: apple, pear, raspberry, cherries, grapes, and lemon. With all that fruit and being “all natural”, this drink is bound to be both nutritious and delicious.

 *MOUSE PRINT: Surprisingly, the ingredients listing indicates that this punch only contains two fruit juices. “INGREDIENTS: water, high fructose corn syrup, pear and pineapple juice concentrates, citric acid, natural flavor.”

The label also reveals that the product only contains “10% fruit juice” and is a “tropical punch flavored juice drink blend.” (It is never a good sign when a product is labeled “juice drink.” And with all that natural water and natural sugar syrup there is hardly room for juice anyway.)

So, where’s the banana, orange, strawberry, raspberry, grape, cherry, apple and lemon that are pictured on the box? Kraft, the maker of this product, responded to an email inquiring as to what specific fruit extracts were contained in this product under the term “natural flavor” by saying the ”fruits contained in Tropical Punch … orange, strawberry, banana, pear and pineapple.” 

So maybe the company just forgot to include the raspberry, grape, cherry, apple and lemon pictured on the box?

[Note: the packaging shown is not the current version of this product.]

As prices for raw ingredients go up, package sizes go down. Here are a few of the latest examples of products which have been downsized.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The really big container went from 34.5 ounces (270 cups) down to 30.6 ounces (240 cups) — a loss of 30 cups-worth per container. Thanks to Mouse Print* reader Karl K. for the tip.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Betty Crocker has downsized many of their cake mixes from the familiar 18.25 ounces to only 15.25 ounces. Funny thing, however, the package still says it makes two eight-inch rounds, but the nutrition label says there are only 10 servings in the new package rather than the old 12. Thanks to Terry for the lead on Betty Crocker.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Old reliable Nathan’s, the best-tasting frankfurter you can buy (says MrConsumer), still gives you eight “bigger than a bun” hot dogs in a package, but each one has gotten skinnier. The pound package is now just 14 ounces.

As with most cases of downsized products, you are paying the same price, but getting less. That is a sneaky way to essentially raise prices.