While shopping recently, I picked up a couple of cans of Thai Kitchen whole coconut milk and happened to notice when I got home that the amount in each can is now only 13.66 oz – down from 14 oz the last time I bought some. Â Â As you can see from my photo below, the two cans look identical in size and shape. Â The price of the two cans is also the same at $1.99 each. Â The only way you would know the difference is if you happened to notice the change in the number of ounces, AND if you happened to have one more can of the previous size still in your pantry (like I luckily had so I could take this photo as proof).
When I initially noticed this, I was a bit sad as it appeared on the surface that even companies that produce a good product like Thai Kitchen, one of the few brands of coconut milk on the market with no preservatives, fall into the trap of using deceptive packaging to trick the consumer. Â Â No matter how long you’ve been buying a particular product and no matter how excellent the reputation of the company that produces it, there is simply no substitute for reading the labels of your favorite brands every so often. Â Ingredients can change without notice to something that is unacceptable to you and your family. Â Â Slight labeling changes can reduce the value that you thought you were getting for your money.
After I wrote this, I called up Thai Kitchen to see if the company had been recently purchased by a Big Food company as I thought this might explain the labeling change. Â Â Small companies founded on the ideals of integrity and transparency can quickly lose their conscience when they are gobbled up by a corporate behemoth and become just one more line item on the profit/loss statement!
To my delight, the customer service lady I spoke with was extremely courteous and patiently explained to me that the company had, in fact, changed the label to more accurately reflect the weight by volume in the can and that the 14 oz label used before was actually more like 13.66 oz! Â In effect, there had been no change in the amount in the two cans, only a more accurate label used. Â She even offered to send me some product coupons as a thank you for the feedback I had given the company regarding this labeling change.
Having been burned in the past by these types of changes, I was so relieved to be totally wrong in this case!  Even still, I thought this experience could prove helpful and a lesson for us all that you are absolutely not safe from tricks and outright deception when you shop at the health food store.   Always read your labels and once a product has passed your inspection, re-read the label every few months to ensure that the quality that caused you to buy it in the first place is still intact.   Don’t hesitate to call the company if necessary to clarify a labeling or ingredient change.   Who knows?  You might even score some free coupons for your trouble!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I noticed long ago they are selling a 1 # loaf of bread that’s nowhere near 1 pound. It’s something like 13 oz. I don’t buy store bread so I don’t care what they do, but this is spilling over into all products now. I call it the hula-hoop sales gimmick. A pound is no longer a pound. Just another thing to have to watch for, as if purchasing isn’t already full of perils.
Very interesting, Carrie. Thanks for posting this comment. I had no idea that there were very strict regulations about this!
When I went to get honey in Plant City last fall, the gentleman selling it explained to me that he didn't tell people there was 1 lb of honey in it when there very well could be. He explained that he preferred to tell people there was 15 ounces since if he was any amount under, the regulations were so strict that the consequences weren't worth mislabeling this. He would rather put more in and say it was less. I think this is why we are seeing more of this. I wonder if there is $ behind this in the sense of putting pressure on smaller companies to have to make costly changes. I would have to imagine before that there should have been a percentage margin of error.
Carrie
I asked the Thai Kitchen customer service lady directly on the phone if they had been bought out by a larger company and was told no. McCormicks has in fact bought them (2006), but the way it was described to me, a company called "Simply Asia" was acquired by Thai Kitchen! Not exactly a forthcoming answer now that you've brought that up and I am thinking about it some more.
I beleive Thai Kitchen was bought out by McCormicks? I don't know for sure.. but I avoid all big name organics so if I am wrong please let me know!
Jani
Good article, and for sure you cannot really trust even health food manufacturers to be completely honest and transparant about their products all the time. At least in this case your suspicions were proven wrong.
Thanks for sharing!