Alpine chocolate of the Milka brand has been declared the “most brazen advertising lie” of the year in a survey conducted by the consumer protection organization Foodwatch, it was announced on Tuesday.
“Milka chocolate is a textbook example of so-called ‘shrinkflation,’ and that is exactly why consumers declared it the most brazen advertising lie of the year,” the Foodwatch statement said.
“Shrinkflation” refers to cases in which products do not increase in price, but their content is reduced while the price remains the same.
34 percent of respondents voted to give Milka Chocolate’s manufacturer the negative award “Goldener Windbeutel” (Windbeutel is a type of pastry, and literally translates as “bag of air/wind”).
Mondelez increased the price of Milka Alpine chocolate from 1.49 to 1.99 and shortly thereafter reduced the weight of the chocolate from 100 to 90 grams. According to Foodwatch, this represents a 48 percent price increase.
The multinational company Mondelez justified the price hike with rising cocoa prices on the global market, as well as other factors influencing the final product price.
“The business environment is more complicated and unstable than ever,” Mondelez stated.
Foodwatch, however, criticized the lack of transparency, especially when it comes to weight reduction.
“Although it says on the front of the chocolate bar that it weighs 90 grams, the label is small and often covered on supermarket shelves,” Foodwatch stated.
This consumer protection organization pointed to statistical data showing that chocolate prices in Germany rose by around eight percent last year, while at the same time, Mondelez increased prices for some chocolate products by up to 64 percent.
Second place on the infamous list of consumer deception went to smoked salmon by a Norwegian company that came under fire for violating animal protection laws.
In third place was once again a chocolate bar called “Menstru Chocobar,” which is marketed to women during menstruation with the claim that the chocolate contains ingredients such as iron and vitamin B6 that allegedly alleviate menstrual symptoms.
According to Foodwatch, there is no scientific evidence for this claim.
Fourth place went to the popular margarine Rama, produced by Flora Food Group, which consumers criticized because the packaging claims it contains “100 percent natural ingredients,” although the product, according to Foodwatch, is full of additional industrially produced ingredients, N1 writes.
Photo: Milka.com
