Update 8pm CT, Aug. 2: A Kellogg’s spokesperson told the Daily Dot that “the Rice Krispies Treats shown in the consumer’s video are from comparable packages that have not been made smaller. They are sold by weight, not dimension, for which there is an acceptable range. There are natural variations in our cooking process which can affect color, and rice grains vary in size and weight. We do have controls in place to ensure that Rice Krispies Treats meet our high quality standards, including ensuring packages are not over-or under-weight.”
Original story: Did the size of these Rice Krispies Treats just go SNAP, CRACKLE, POOF? This candy maker is saying shrinkflation has struck again.
Ursula Perez, owner/operator of L.A.-based Sweet Tooth Candy Buffets, provides candy tables, event services, and treat crafting classes. And she says she’s noticed some significant quality differences in the Kellogg’s Rice Krispie Treats she uses as ingredients.
Perez took to her company TikTok account (@swttoothbuffets) on Friday to discuss the matter. Since then, her video showing the difference in the bulk-packaged treats has picked up over 427,000 views.
“Kellogg’s, you have some explaining to do because I knew I was not going crazy saying the Rice Krispie Treats are getting smaller,” she claims in the video.
“It’s the Rice Krispie Treats in the large count boxes [40 count], and I’m going to show you because these came out of the 8-count box,” she claims, displaying the two wrapped treats side by side for the camera.
“There’s a huge difference. Huge difference. Look at these,” she says as she unwraps the two packets.
She first displays the treat from the 8-count box, saying, “Look at how pretty these are.” The treat is uniform in appearance and looks fairly solid.
Then, she unwraps the treat from the 40-count box. At first, there doesn’t seem to be much discernible difference between the two, but a closer inspection reveals the second treat appears far less substantial than the first.
But the real difference appears when Lopez squeezes the two treats with what she claims is equal pressure. “It’s literally half of this that’s in here,” she claims as the second treat smashes into a mass less than half the size of the other.
“We need some answers,” she says.
According to the Rice Krispies Treats website, both the 8-count and the 40-count boxes contain bars with the same net weight of 22 grams, or approximately 0.78 ounces.
@swttoothbuffets 🤔🤔🤔 #kelloggs #kelloggsricekrispiestreats ♬ original sound – Ursula – Sweet Tooth Candy 🍭
Reddit claims
However, Perez is hardly the first person on social media to suggest that the product quality has gone down or even shrunken.
The topic is mentioned in several entries in Reddit’s r/shrinkflation forums. One post from six months ago stated, “I always buy a box of rice krispy treats. I opened the box I bought today and thought they felt smaller. Grabbed a wrapper from the trash and WOW!!!!! That’s almost half the size!!”
The post was accompanied by a photo noting differing net weights of 1.3 ounces and 0.78 ounces on the two packages.
Viewers weigh in
In the comments section, COOKIES (@cookiesbaby35) pointed out “Everything’s getting smaller except for the prices.”
Another person commented, “They look different too – the color is off, and seems like less marshmallow on the smaller one? I’ll always make them before buying packaged ones because they taste better lol.”
And another viewer noted, “Not only are they smaller but they fall apart.” Perez agreed, responding, “Yes!!! They fall apart in my hand when I try to dip in chocolate.”
Update 4:44pm CT, July 31: Perex told the Daily Dot that, for years, she has used over 100 Rice Krispies Treats a week for her business. She noticed something was amiss when she was teaching a chocolate-dipping class. “They were falling apart part in my hand,” she said, “which had me looking into why they look different than before.”
“The boxes say the same weight but they aren’t and look very different and a lot of people have also noticed the difference in density also,” she said.
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