“Cheapflation”, or when manufacturers cut corners on product quality to maintain their margins

Wood cellulose in parmesan, water in ham or artificial chocolate flavors in ice cream? Without knowing it, you may have already consumed foods that are victims of “cheapflation”. Behind this barbaric word - a neologism made up of "cheap", for low-end, and inflation - hides an unscrupulous technique, which some industrialists use: replacing "certain products or foods with cheaper substitutes (food or not) ". Objective: “Maintain margins or sell more products”, underlined John Plassard, deputy director of the private bank Mirabaud

“Cheapflation is the latest discovery by manufacturers to maintain their margins and allow their customers to “almost” be able to continue to eat their favorite products, despite the rise in inflation which is straining their purchasing power,” explained- he. The report cited in particular the example of "ice cream" now called "frozen dessert [...] because so many dairy products have been removed from it and replaced with fillers" that it no longer corresponds, legally, to its designation of origin. Same example with “chocolate” or “chocolate flavored” products which certainly contain “palm oil, artificial flavors or another similar concoction”.

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Some examples are more worrying. This is the case with parmesan, which is “supplemented, sometimes strongly, by a vegetable fiber often derived from wood (most often called “cellulose” in the food industry)”, indicated John Plassard. If no case has been identified in France, Bloomberg had already pinned in 2016 several manufacturers who used this replacement product in the United States. Cellulose has no nutritional value, “man has no way of digesting it and it can cause various digestive problems”.

In addition, manufacturers engaged in "cheapflation" do not always notify their customers of changes in the composition of products. “I encourage the consumer to carefully read the labels and the list of ingredients. advises Coralie Costi, dietitian nutritionist. The shorter they are, the better.” The presence of unknown words is “not a good sign”, she adds, highlighting significant health risks: “The addition of additives or flavor enhancers can lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or microbiota disruption.”

The effects of "cheapflation" can also be seen in the restoration. “Look in restaurants or in canteens, we replaced products that were expensive on the menus with others that cost less,” noted Michel-Édouard Leclerc, president of the E. Leclerc centers, this Friday morning on BFMTV. An observation shared by Coralie Costi who explains that “it is the children who pay the price” with truncated “nutritional education”. If, for the moment, this technique “is far from being generalized” in France, according to sector experts, we must nevertheless increase our vigilance on the shelves, at the risk of being duped on our plate. When contacted, neither the National Association of Food Industries nor the office of the Minister Delegate for Trade were able to respond.