Buzz
As inflation reaches its highest level in four decades, Americans are experiencing financial strain across nearly every aspect of life. Often, they bear the hidden costs of inflation unknowingly. According to Food & Wine, while the price of Doritos remains unchanged, consumers might observe fewer chips in each bag than before.
Frito-Lay has acknowledged reducing the weight of a standard bag of Doritos from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces, resulting in approximately five fewer chips per bag. This adjustment exemplifies 'shrinkflation,' a strategy where food companies offset rising ingredient costs by offering smaller portions at unchanged prices.
This tactic feels particularly deceptive with chips. While Ben & Jerry's cannot easily conceal the shrinking size of their ice cream containers, or Gatorade the altered shape of their bottles (despite attributing it to design rather than cost-saving), Frito-Lay can discreetly remove chips from their bags. The bags are already half-filled with air to protect the chips from breaking during transport, making the reduction less noticeable.
Enacted in 1966, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act mandates that food producers display the net weight of their products on packaging. However, unless you recall the exact weight of a previous bag of Doritos, you probably won’t detect any alteration. Even after opening the bag, you might only feel a vague sense of discontent without realizing what’s changed.
Over the years, Doritos has undergone numerous transformations, some more popular than others. Take a look at these 13 discontinued Doritos flavors from earlier times.
