Groceries and other basic necessities of life are now more expensive than ever. According to Yahoo Finance, grocery prices have increased by 25.8% just in the past three years, while the average annual increase used to be 3.9%.
Given that fact, one would assume that consumers would be getting the absolute best quality they’ve ever gotten–but sadly, that does not seem to be the case.
Shoppers across the country have been reporting unpleasant discoveries during and after their grocery trips. Here are five of the most horrifying:
Moldy muffins from Target
TikToker Jackie G (@raisin.xo) had a shocking experience at Target when she returned moldy muffins.
Jackie, a mom of three who usually shares family content, posted a video showing the moldy Favorite Day Bakery blueberry streusel muffins she had bought.
To her shock and disgust, when she returned to Target, she found the shelf stocked with more of the same moldy muffins.
“Target, I just came to return those muffins, and look at these. Every last one of them over here have mold on it,” she exclaimed.
To make matters worse, Jackie felt like the staff didn’t seem to take the issue seriously.
“Absolutely disgusting,” she said. “And I can’t even find a manager, because they’re paging her and she’s nowhere to be found.”
Misleading portion size from Costco
TikToker Angel (@a.est.87) recently posted a video exposing a misleading product at Costco.
In the clip, Angel said she was excited to find a large container of Del Real Foods birria meat stew for $20, advertised to serve up to seven people.
However, she was shocked when she opened it. Instead of a hearty portion, she found only two small chunks of meat in a large pool of broth.
“Dinner plans have changed, guys. I’m gonna have to cook something else,” Angel tells her family.
She went on to weigh the contents, and she found the meat totaled just 364 grams (0.8 lbs). Much of the package’s total 1.02 kg (2.25 lbs) weight was broth, which alone clocked in at 693 grams (1.5 lbs)
Angel expressed her disappointment, stating, “I could eat this in one sitting. This is like one taco or maybe one burrito.”
She added that, on top of everything, even the taste was subpar, with her daughter comparing it to “canned tamales.”
This isn’t the first time Costco has faced similar accusations, with previous instances of shoppers saying they received less product than advertised.
Coca Cola ‘trickflation’
Reddit user u/inasimplerhyme took to the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating to present a concept called “trickflation,” where manufacturers use packaging changes to mislead consumers into paying more.
In the redditor’s post, he placed two 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola side by side, each with a different design. One can has the familiar traditional shape, while the other is taller and more slender.
The shocking revelation the redditor makes, however, is that these cans come at completely different price points–the original design costs $1.05, and the new one is $2.37.
One user noted, “The grocery industry apparently thinks the average consumer has the intelligence of a 6-year-old child.”
Charged for ‘nothing’ at Walmart
TikToker Erica (@ericathib) is urging everyone to check their Walmart receipts after she was hit with a mysterious $46.27 charge for “nothing.”
In her viral video, Erica shows the charge listed as “2ND MDCVP” on her receipt, but the Walmart app had no matching product photo.
While Erica says the total seemed higher than expected, distracted by her kids and another shopper, she paid without double-checking.
But later, while making a TikTok of her grocery haul, she found the strange charge. “Guys, check your receipts. Check, check, check your receipts,” she warns.
The “CVP” code might stand for Customer Value Pricing, used for discounted items nearing expiration or with damaged packaging. However, the frequent reports of random charges suggest there might be errors in Walmart’s system.
Zero cookies in Cookie and Cream Ice Cream
TikToker Erin (@erinthehotairballoon) recently called out Breyers for what she says is false advertising.
When she opened a container of Breyers Cookies and Cream ice cream, she found no cookies inside. “Where my cookies at,” she captioned the video, accompanying it with a sad face emoji.
In her video, we see her desperately dig through the ice cream with a spoon and ask, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but this does say ‘Cookies and Cream,’ right? Because I only got the cream.”
Users in the comments relayed they’ve also had the same experience with this particular ice cream brand, and deeply empathized with Erin’s disappointment.
One user wrote, “Depending on the kind of day I was having I fear this could make me sob.”
