BREAKING Wrong-way crash involving police on Ontario's Highway 401 leaves 4 dead, including infant
A wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby, Ont. last night has left four people dead, including an infant, Ontario’s police watchdog says.
In addition to hiking prices and shrinking product sizes, some food companies have also been quietly downgrading ingredients to reduce manufacturing costs.
The practice has been dubbed "skimpflation" and it has already joined inflation and “shrinkflation” in grocery stores across Canada.
"Skimpflation is when a manufacturer reformulates its product with cheaper ingredients," American consumer lawyer Edgar Dworsky told CTV News from Boston. "In skimpflation, you are getting less for your money."
Dworsky tracks stealthy product changes. He points to toilet paper as an example of so-called skimpflation.
"Do you ever notice if it's getting thinner?" said Dworsky, who posts his findings on the U.S. website www.consumerworld.org. "That's one way manufacturers are kind of skimping on the product, using less paper pulp."
Skimpflation can be difficult to catch because there are no specific laws requiring companies to disclose changes. Like shrinkflation, which is when you pay the same price for a smaller product, some say the practice helps keep consumer prices down amid inflation.
"The whole idea behind managing these things behind the scenes as a brand is to make sure that your products remain affordable," Jeff Doucette, general manager at shopping information app Field Agent Canada told CTV News from Calgary.
Skimpflation is already happening in Canada, according to Sylvain Charlebois, a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.
"Food manufacturers have used the skimpflation approach for many years," Charlebois told CTV News from Halifax. "Companies will reformulate products in order to save money."
Charlebois gives the example of a granola bar brand that changed its first ingredient from "milk chocolate" to something called "chocolatey coating," which includes cheaper ingredients like palm oil.
"Cocoa prices are at a 44-year high right now," Charlebois, who is also the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, said. "That has really forced companies to use different sources of chocolate-flavoured ingredients."
A wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby, Ont. last night has left four people dead, including an infant, Ontario’s police watchdog says.
Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined US$9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed.
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a east London suburb early Tuesday, killing a 13-year-old boy and injuring four others, authorities said.
Residents in the area of Gaston Road in Dartmouth, N.S., are being asked to shelter in place as police search for an armed suspect.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.