Already fallen for this?: The food industry uses these legal tricks

It is said that at Migros the supplier reduced the quantity per glass and at the same time increased the supplier price. Coop’s comment: Producers’ quantity reductions are controlled “basically very carefully”.

Manufacturer Danone argues that it has transparently informed customers about the changes via social media and the product’s website, so this is not a hidden price increase. Additionally, information regarding the smaller filling quantity is printed in a larger font on the front of the packaging. Production costs increased by over 30 percent, and only a small portion of this was passed on to customers.

In Germany, the Hamburg district court convicted a margarine manufacturer in February 2024 for a secret price increase. According to the court, suddenly selling margarine containing only 400 grams instead of 500 grams in almost identical packaging was “misleading”. The decision is not final.

Migros’ Alnatura honey waffles are sweetened mainly with glucose syrup and grain malt syrup. Expensive honey contains only eight percent, as the ingredients list shows. This is allowed. The law only requires that if a product is named after an ingredient, a percentage must appear somewhere on the packaging. It is not regulated how much of the content should be included.

At Migros, it is said that the technical name is ‘currently being revised’. Stroopwafels (waffles with syrup) are a Dutch specialty. The filling consists of a mixture of glucose syrup and honey. “Since the taste of the waffle is unmistakably honey and honey characterizes the product, the product name was chosen accordingly.”

The “Goat cheese and rosemary Philadelphia” cream cheese offered for sale by Migros and Coop contains only 3 percent goat cheese. And the fact that it is so little is hidden on the edge of the packaging.

Foodwatch organization nominated Mondelez’s Philadelphia cheese for the “Most Impudent Advertising Lie of the Year” category. Foodwatch suspects that the taste of goat cheese is created by added sweeteners. Mondelez argues that the rosemary and goat cheese are merely ingredients that help shape the taste. This is demonstrated by the packaging design.

Nestlé’s “Choco 0%” hirz yoghurt is “sugar-free” as it does not contain granulated sugar. By law, this means the manufacturer can replace sugar with sweeteners. However, according to the World Health Organization, sweeteners should not be consumed too frequently. Fruit or sugar-free foods and drinks are more valuable.

If you want to follow this recommendation, you should use “no added sugar” products. This term prohibits the addition of common sweeteners. Fruit yogurts are often sweetened with more fruit or more fruit juice instead of aspartame or acesulfame-K.

Manufacturer Nestlé claims that the term “0% granulated sugar” is “approved by the authorities.” This information is used because yoghurt naturally contains types of sugar. Nestlé Switzerland has reduced the aspartame content of its yoghurts by a total of 20 percent since 2022.