Hey, who shrank my Doritos? Food companies are finding ways to sell you less for more--and hoping you won't notice.

• Author: Majerol, Veronica
• Position: BUSINESS

Look closely at some of your favorite foods and snacks, and you may notice a trend. That King Size Snickers bar is not as kingly as it used to be. Raisin Bran and Corn Flakes boxes have gotten skinnier. Even Heinz ketchup bottles have shed some weight.

In response to the higher cost of ingredients in their products, some food companies have been shrinking the size of packages but charging the same as, or sometimes more than, before.

Many have tried promoting the products as "greener" (good for the environment) or more "portable" (smaller bags for the takeout lifestyle) or "healthier" (fewer calories)--and those things may in fact be true. But what the companies fail to mention is that you're also getting less food for your money.

"The problem is that it's sneaky," says Ben Popken, managing editor of Consumerist.com, a blog that tracks shrinking products. Popken understands the need for food companies to offset added expenses that have resulted from rising oil and commodities prices--especially corn and wheat. But "what we don't like," he says "is that they're trying to do it under the table and behind our back."

Take Skippy peanut butter. In 2008, its standard size shrank from 18 ounces to 16.3 ounces--a 10 percent decrease--though you probably wouldn't notice, even if you examined the containers side by side. That's because Unilever, which owns Skippy, kept the jar's appearance the same, except for adding a concave indentation on the bottom, where few consumers would think to look. When the cost of oranges rose last year after a cold snap in Florida, Tropicana shaved seven ounces, or 7 percent, from its 96-oz. jug. The company offered consumers a "new easy pour pitcher" as the rationale for its new package.

Foods that have undergone quiet redesigns include Chicken of the Sea albacore tuna, now packed in 5-ounce cans instead of 6, and Doritos, Tostitos, and Fritos, whose bags now hold 20 percent fewer chips than in 2009--though a spokesman said those extra chips had been a "limited time" offer.

Why Snickers Cost More

Jessica Davis, 21, a senior at Missouri State University in Springfield, says she and other cash-strapped students are particularly vulnerable to the effects of food inflation. When her grocery bills went up this year, she had to cut back on other things, like how often she could go out with friends. Davis says that as a marketing major, she understands why some companies use clever redesigns to try to distract customers from...