Ireland should follow France's lead and introduce legislation to alert consumers to 'shrinkflation'.
'Shrinkflation' is where prices are kept the same but the size of products is reduced.
It comes amid reports that the number of Ritz crackers per box has been reduced by up to 30% but the price has remained the same.
Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope told The Hard Shoulder it's a huge problem.
"The thing about shrinkflation is it's kind of new and it's kind of old," he said.
"The word has only existed since 2015, would you believe... but it's actually going on for many, many years.
"Going back to Greek and Roman times they were shrinking the bread and selling it for the same price - but it really became a problem in the US maybe 100 years ago".
A close up of chocolate bars in a vending machine, 16-9-09. Image: Photogenix / AlamyConor said the arrival of vending machines saw bars made smaller in size.
"Over the last 10 or 15 years it's really gathered pace," he said.
"One of the British consumer bodies worked out that between 2012 and 2017 more than 2,500 products on supermarket shelves got smaller in size without a commensurate drop in price.
"It's a bit of a pain but it's not wildly serious in the same way when they shrink Magnums or Toblerones or the Cadbury's Creme Egg… you think, 'Ah that's not so bad'".
'You just wouldn't notice'
Conor said one particular case of shrinkflation still annoys him.
"When the Yorkie bar was launched it was absolutely massive," he said.
"I think it was 70g and it was a big bar of chocolate.
"But now the Yorkie bar is like 45g so it's nearly halved in size over the last 30 or 40 years."
Conor said most people wouldn't notice the changes.
"It's inflation by stealth: the Ritz crackers I'd say the box is probably the same size, so unless you're eagle-eyed, you just wouldn't notice it," he said.
"A lot of shoppers are going, 'What's going on here? I've spent the same amount of cash but all the stuff I bought is gone'".
Legislation against shrinkflation
Conor said he believes Ireland should take the same approach as one French supermarket.
"What Carrefour did was put big signs on all the stock that had fallen [in size] saying, 'These products have fallen in size but they haven't fallen in price - it's not our fault'" he said.
"More recently the French finance minister has introduced legislation that mandates if a product falls in size without any commensurate fall in price, all retailers will have to put a big sign on the product for two months after the product has shrunk.
"In think it's that kind of 'take no prisoners' attitude that we need in this country," he added.
Ritz parent company Mondelez, which also owns Cadbury, has been contacted for comment.
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