These are the seven most misleading food products of 2024

Every year, Foodwatch receives hundreds of complaints from disappointed consumers who feel deceived in the supermarket. The candidates for the Golden Wind Egg are selected from these complaints. The nominees, who take things far too far, are selected based on these reports and market research by the food watchdog.

The prize nobody wants

From today, the Dutch public can vote to choose the most misleading food product of 2024. The product that receives the most votes will win this year’s Golden Wind Egg: the prize no food manufacturer wants. With the election, Foodwatch draws attention to misleading packaging and labels that food manufacturers systematically use to sell their products.

Shrinkflation and skimpflation

This year, the election focuses on shrinkflation and skimpflation. Shrinkflation and skimpflation are misleading tricks used by manufacturers to charge the same or a higher price for less content and/or lower quality. As a consumer, you therefore get less product or a worse product than before without noticing it. Both tricks are very difficult to detect, because old packaging and receipts have often already been thrown away. Old prices and ingredient lists are therefore difficult to trace.

By exposing this kind of deceptive practice, Foodwatch wants to promote honesty in supermarkets and encourage manufacturers to be more transparent. We can only encourage that, of course.

Golden Wind Egg nominees

1. Albert Heijn has been nominated this year for AH Lekkerbekjes from the freezer. Unnoticed, reducing the fish content from 75% to 55% pollock and making the coating thicker means you get less fish for your money, while thinking you are buying a full-fledged product.
2. The Liga Repen Noten Amandel & Pinda bars from manufacturer Mondelez are in the running for the prize because they have become lighter (from 40 to 35 grams per bar), while your wallet also takes quite a hit due to the huge price increase of almost 45% per kilo. Shrinkflation in its purest form.
3. Want to enjoy luxury at breakfast? You get stripped down when doing the shopping! The packaging of Danerolles Pains au Chocolat says ‘New recipe’. In reality, that means less chocolate, no more butter concentrate and only six pastries in a pack instead of eight.
4. Less and cheaper coffee in your pods. With these Nescafé Farmers Origin India coffee capsules, Nestlé proves that it understands skimpflation and shrinkflation all too well. The content per pod has decreased from 53 grams to 44 grams. And instead of 100% arabica, there is now a blend of arabica and cheaper robusta beans. The price for 10 pods has remained the same.
5. Knorr Veggie Wraps Wortel became considerably smaller earlier this year. However, the new price per kilo has increased to 11.00 euros from 8.27 euros. This seriously calls into question the transparency and fairness of the price of this Unilever product.
6. ‘Now with palm oil for that bitter taste of deforestation’ could have appeared on the packaging. The silent replacement of sunflower oil with cheaper, less healthy and less sustainable palm oil in Milka Choco Sensation cookies can be called misleading on the part of manufacturer Mondelez.
7. Reducing the contents of Hertog IJssalon Citroentaart Meringue from 900 ml to 825 ml means you get less product for your money. There are now only 8 portions in a pack instead of 9. In addition, the price per litre has increased from 5.50 euros to 6.05 euros. Now that’s sour, Unilever!

Anyone who wants to participate in the election for the Golden Wind Egg can vote from now on via www.goudenwindei.nl