Fading favourites

Forget fast food being super-sized, these days you can barely fit Burger Rings on your fingers or feel guilty about polishing off a family block of chocolate thanks to new marketing tactics that see us paying more for less.

Consumer groups say this is a trend that will continue to gain momentum as food manufactures try to stay competitive in the feisty supermarket war, meaning we are receiving less grams, fewer litres and smaller amounts in the packages of some popular snack foods.

"Some companies will use a package redesign as a way to hide the fact that they are not giving you the same serving size but are still charging you the same amount," Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said.

Be wary of the confectionary and frozen goods aisles at the supermarket as these house the products that are the most deceiving when it comes to packaging and weight.

Experts say the big confectionary companies use nostalgia and a variety of choices to brighten up their balance sheets. Remember Tiny Teddies? They were launched into the market with less than three variations, now there are around five bite sized bears to choose from.

Who can forget the furore when Cadbury swapped their traditional paper wrapping to the sleek purple box design? This transformation resulted in 50 grams being shaved off both the family sized and snack sized blocks.

"New labelling and new logos are the most cost effective way for keeping products fresh so they stand out on the shelves of supermarkets," she said.

With more money to spend on research and marketing from big manufacturers, expect to see more loss from your hip pocket (and waistlines) in the years to come.