Exposing Hidden Price Hikes

If you feel your money's not going as far at the checkout counters as it used to...you're probably right.

Companies are back shrinking their products according to a recent study published in "Consumer Reports" magazine.

Rather than raising prices, the magazine found some major manufacturers are downsizing their product sizes. In effect, selling you less, but at the same price as their older, bigger packaging.

A bottle of Ivory Dish detergent has gone from 30 ounces to 24 and that's 6 ounces less. It's been downsized by about 20%.

What used to be a pint of Hagen Daz Ice Cream's shrunk from 16 to 14 ounces. That's down about 12-point-5 %.

A large container of Tropicana Orange Juice is down about a cup after going from 64 to 59 ounces, or about about 7.8% less.

Most shoppers don't read the labels that closely.So companies know consumers may not even realize their money's not buying as much as it used to.

Many manufacturers have long argued they'd rather shrink products than raise prices.

That may be because they know shoppers are usually more interested in what something costs..than how much of it they're actually buying.

Product downsizing's been going on for years. But it may be getting worse as manufacturers face even more financial pressure to squeeze out profits.

That's why we need to double check product sizes a little more and compare them with Generics which are usually better bargains.