Mom Conducts ‘Mac & Cheese Conspiracy’ Experiment And Shares Concerning Results
Marina April | Shutterstock A mom and content creator decided to put the idea that we’re all paying more money for less food to the test on TikTok, and the results say a lot about the state our economy is in.
Like all packaged foods that you have to cook to eat, mac and cheese boxes have a small line on the label that says just how much food you can expect to have after cooking. It’s the kind of thing that no one pays much attention to. This mom decided to put it to the test in an impromptu experiment, though, and she found that food manufacturers aren’t being as honest with us as we would hope.
A mom prepared a box of mac and cheese that was supposed to make three cups, but it didn’t quite live up to that expectation.
“I’ve had a theory for a while now that food companies are ripping us off so bad by lying about the amount of servings and serving sizes in groceries,” she said at the beginning of her video. “And I noticed it really bad the other day with this mac and cheese from Aldi, so I’m gonna make it right now, and I’m gonna film it, and we’re gonna see if there’s actually three one-cup servings in this box when I’m done.”
After going through the familiar routine of preparing a box of mac and cheese, she showed off her pot, which honestly looked pretty empty, and grabbed a measuring cup. She had two small bowls for each of her kids and filled each with one cup. Then she showed what was left, which wasn’t even enough to put in the measuring cup.
The pitiful amount of mac and cheese left over couldn’t even fill the spoon she had been cooking with. “That’s not three cups,” she declared. “So that made … almost a whole less serving.”
Just in case anyone didn’t believe her, the mom reached out directly to the mac & cheese maker for clarification.
Instead of just accepting the fact that consumers everywhere are being scammed, some people who watched the first video pointed out that the mom might have been wrong with the measurements because uncooked and cooked food are obviously two different things that are measured in two different ways. So, she emailed Kraft.
She shared the company’s reply in a follow-up video. “Please know that one box makes approximately 3.5 cups of prepared mac and cheese,” they wrote. They also noted that the serving size listed on the label “refers to the dry mix only,” meaning that there should actually be more than 2.2 ounces of mac and cheese once it’s prepared.
This is just one example that shows shrinkflation remains a serious issue.
According to a New York Times report, shrinkflation refers to a company selling less of a product for the same price, which could mean putting fewer noodles in a box or fewer paper towels on a roll. They are able to get away with this because most shoppers closely examine the price of a product but pay less attention to how much of that product there actually is.
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A bill known as the Shrinkflation Prevention Act of 2024 was introduced in the Senate, but it has yet to be passed. Several states have laws that force companies to be more transparent about these practices through a product’s unit price, but there is no actual law that makes shrinkflation illegal, per SoFi.
It’s easy to understand why this is upsetting. No one should have to pay the same amount of money for less of a product. But, unless some kind of legislation is passed, big companies will probably continue to get away with downsizing products. For now, it’s up to consumers to decide if all of the “mac and cheese conspiracies” out there should affect the way they shop.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
