Today’s thumb

Dishonest butchers used to put a thumb on the scale to add weight and value to the meat being sold to the unsuspecting customer. Modern methods are more sophisticated but just as dishonest.

Take Ivory Soap’s concentrated dishwashing liquid. Until recently, it came in a 28-ounce size. Now it costs the same, but the spiffed-up plastic bottle contains only 25 ounces. To take off some of the curse, the new bottle says, “New and improved Ivory, now even milder on your hands.”

The same with Reynolds baking cups: “Easy Cleanup, No Need to Grease Your Muffin Pan.” The price remained steady, but the number of cups dropped from 88 to 50.

And Nestle Toll House morsels have lost half an ounce although the bag is the same size.

Candy bars have been doing it for years-smaller bars for the same or greater price. Deceptive packaging nowadays has adopted new tricks to befuddle the buying public. Consumer Reports showed recently that Duncan Hines brownie mix came out with a “new size” that promised 20 percent thicker brownies baked in an 8-inch by 8-inch pan. The older mix called for a pan 13-inches by 9 inches. In a smaller pan, of course they were thicker – but not much, since the new mix had four fewer ounces.

New baked fish sticks from Van De Kamps are said to reduce the fat content. How come? They reduced the weight from 12 ounces to 11 ounces.

What is the poor customer to do? Comparison shopping is one remedy. Read the labels, check the weight, and when you spot deceptive packaging complain to the customer service desk. But how do you make comparisons when coffee now comes in all sorts of odd sizes. It used to come in 1-pound or 2-pound cans. What can you make of a can that says 39 ounces?