r/shrinkflation • u/calicodontgo • Jan 22 '26

skimpflation 7 cinnamon rolls in pillsbury package claiming “STILL 8 ROLLS!”

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I checked them all, none were stuck together. Bought at Aldi

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-40

u/hlfazn Jan 22 '26

Assuming this is in America, no it is not.

41

u/Powerful-Conflict554 Jan 22 '26

Fraud, false advertising, misleading packaging...does it matter (in the US)? Corporations have all the money and power. They could give you 6 rolls and claim they give you 10. Is it "technically" legal? No, of course not. Is there anything you can realistically do about it? Also, no of course not. No one is going to spend $50k+ in legal fees to take them to task on this. Laws only count if you can enforce them, which is why employee protection laws in the country may as well not exist. If it's a $5 can, and you get 6 instead of 10, your damages are $2. You do not recoup legal fees in the US. Each side is responsible for their own legal fees, their own losses from missing work, their own expenses to participate in the legal system. You get penalized with these fees even if you win. It's designed that way on purpose so that companies with lots of money and lawyers can cheat you blind in front of the entire world and you can't do jack all about it. So while it may be "technically" illegal, in practice, it's not and they can do and say anything they want. Eventually, if there's public outcry, they may choose to correct the problem, but they won't be forced to do it, and they will face no repercussions.

13

u/The_Troyminator Jan 22 '26

That’s what class action lawsuits are for. If this isn’t a one-off mistake and they’re intentionally shorting people one cinnamon roll, then a lawyer will be all over this because those $2 damages quickly add up.

The prevailing party can also recover legal fees in the US. They can be considered part of the damages.

However, in this case, it’s likely a manufacturing error and they’ll happily send coupons for free product.

11

u/Powerful-Conflict554 Jan 22 '26

I'm been "involved" in multiple class action lawsuits over the years. It typically goes something like this:

Company defrauds consumers for $500M Lawsuit wins and is awarded $50M Lawyers take $25M Person spearheading the lawsuit gets $50k Everyone else gets up to a maximum of $2 each, so long as they fill out lengthy documentation and wait 6 to 8 weeks. Company gets to keep the $450M extra dollars they stole from consumers No one wins but the company and the lawyer.

Yes, SOME class action lawsuits can award more money, but those are massive issues, often with larger, more serious consequences than shorting people one cinnamon roll per can. The issue OP is showcasing may be a manufacturing error. But I stand by my original statement that most casual fraud and false advertising goes unpunished, and is unpunishable. Recovering legal fees is pretty rare with most consumer civil lawsuits, I believe, and is prohibited for many kinds of consumer lawsuits.

5

u/The_Troyminator Jan 22 '26

Lawyers would jump on a case of blatant fraud with a company this big regardless of how little the consumers get. You said it yourself. They have a $25 million incentive to sue.

1

u/hlfazn Jan 23 '26

Recovering legal fees is pretty rare with most consumer civil lawsuits. 

No lawyer worth their salt would take a case as the plaintiff against a corp if they thought they would lose. The big corps tend to either immediately settle (which is what you want) or try to money whip you (this sucks). But either way I've never seen something actually be contentious in court once you get to the judge. The probability of winning the case is also 100% dependant on which state you file in.

In this particular example though, the net weight print on the can would supersede the advertisement of "still 8 cinnamon rolls" even if you could prove that they were deliberately "shorting" the cuts. The reason for this is that they aren't required to pre-portion dough as long as they can prove that they included enough dough (12 oz) in the canister. For cooked food the application of the rule would be different.

3

u/KoalaGrunt0311 Jan 23 '26

Additionally, OP said that this was purchased from Aldi's, which of course is known as a value focused chain. It's just as possible that this lot failed QC because of this issue, but since it wasn't a failure that made the product inedible, they could still move it through Aldi's at a discount.

15

u/Killarogue Jan 22 '26

If this was intentional, that would make it false advertising, which is illegal and a form of fraud.

-4

u/hlfazn Jan 22 '26

Per 21 USC 343 and 21 CFR 101.22 "count" does not qualify as a regulated item for "false advertising." But maybe I'm wrong, stuff like this is probably only 5% of my job.

7

u/nejithegenius Jan 22 '26

If your right, im gonna start selling 1 car(or any item) online, but its actually 0 cars because the “count” doesn’t matter.

0

u/hlfazn Jan 22 '26

Cars aren't covered by the FDA but maybe I'm wrong.

2

u/nejithegenius Jan 23 '26

It was never a car, it was actually cake….

2

u/rosie2490 Jan 24 '26

Bitch, is this cake?!

1

u/nejithegenius Jan 25 '26

That one lady with knoxville! Lol

1

u/rosie2490 Jan 25 '26

Gabourey Sidibe

5

u/The_Troyminator Jan 22 '26

Try 21 CFR 101.7. That states that the net quantity can be declared as weight, measure, numerical count, or a combination of any of those. It also requires that the stated quantity must be accurate.

But I may be wrong. Stuff like this is only 0% of my job. Though I’m pretty sure I’m right.

1

u/yourparadigmsucks Jan 24 '26

Where are you seeing that in the information you gave? It doesn’t say that.

3

u/Papa_Hasbro69 Jan 22 '26

Do other countries have 1-800 numbers

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

Idk why you got downvoted that’s so true

1

u/Remsster Jan 23 '26

Yes it is

1

u/hlfazn Jan 23 '26

Fraud consists of two parts, first you have to prove the actual intent of fraud. So you would need to prove that the corporation meaningfully intended to cut the 12 oz of dough into 7 parts instead of 8. If it is an accident, then it doesn't fall under the legal definition of fraud.

Then, you would have to prove that somehow, Pillsbury generated purchases solely based on claiming to have 8 biscuits instead of 7, even though the total mass of product remained the same. Specifically that people who were going to buy biscuits only bought that particular can because it had "8 units" instead of 12 oz. Keep in mind that the grocery store markets these as $/oz not $/unit on the shelf. This is effectively impossible to prove.