2012 – Page 6 – Mouse Print*

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Here We Downsize Again – Part 3 (2012)

March 14, 2022September 17, 2012 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

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.”

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Capri Sun Tropical Punch: All Natural*

September 10, 2012 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Capri Sun Front 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.

Â *MOUSE PRINT: Surprisingly, the ingredients listingÂ 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 theÂ “fruits contained in Tropical Punch … orange, strawberry, banana, pear and pineapple.”Â

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.]

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HP Warranty Surprises

September 3, 2012 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

HP does not make finding its product warranty easy, and when you find it, it can contain a surprise or two.

Right in the middle of printing his tax return last April, MrConsumer’s HP laser printer konked out. Luckily, he had purchased a replacement HP several years earlier when it was on sale. Upon opening the box, I was curious about the warranty that came with the new printer. The warranty card or statement was nowhere to be found.

I had a vague memory that the law may allow a manufacturer of an electronic item to provide the warranty on a CDROM. Sure enough, when scouring the FTC’s website, an 2009 opinion letter popped up in which a lawyer who represented a computer and printer manufacturer asked whether his company could fulfill the requirements of the law by including the warranty either on the hard drive or on a disk instead of on paper.

The opinion stated in part:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“In passing the Act, Congressâ€™s intent was to ensure that consumers receive clear and complete information about warranty coverage pre-sale, and that consumers be able to retain a copy of the warranty post-sale for reference in case of product failure. In the opinion of FTC staff, those purposes are sufficiently accomplished by providing, in electronic form, a copy of a written consumer product warranty that otherwise complies with the requirements and prohibitions of the Warranty Act and Rules â€“ provided the warranted consumer products include clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-follow instructions on how to access the warranty information provided on the consumer productâ€™s internal drive or on an accompanying CD or DVD [color added] and that a consumer can print out a paper copy of the warranty if needed.”

Popping the included CD into the computer did not produce any message of where on the CD one could read the warranty. Browsing the CD’s file contents revealed dozens of files and subdirectories, with no file labeled as “warranty”. Even the readme file made no mention of the warranty.

In short, HP did not provide clear and easy instructions on how to find the warranty required to be included in the box. But then again, this was a 2006 printer, packaged three years before the FTC gave its opinion that it was now okay not to include a printed warranty. Hmmm.

When the warranty was finally found online, it contained a most unusual disclosure:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“HP products may contain remanufactured parts equivalent to new in performance or may have been subject to incidental use.”

What? This brand new printer may be made with used and then reconditioned parts? This is supposed to be a brand new printer from the most well known printer company in the world. And why would such a disclosure not be on the outside of the box rather than be hidden in one file on the disk inside the box?

If any Mouse Print* readers have an HP printer purchased in 2010 or later, it would be interesting to see if there are instructions on how to find the warranty in the box or on the CD, and whether it comes up as a menu item when popping in the disk.