Lunchables shrinkflation frustrates father of autistic son

Kraft says ‘cracker shortage’ forces cutting from six to five

Dan Zielinski’s autistic son eats three “Lunchables Ham & Cheddar Cheese Cracker Stackers” every day -- one for breakfast and two for lunch. The boy used to enjoy putting together the six crackers, cheese and ham into a perfectly even sandwich.

That changed in recent weeks. “He asks for an extra cracker at breakfast because he says one is missing,” said Dan. The family buys 21 boxes a week for their son, and all contained just five crackers.

Dan sent me this photo of his son’s Lunchable

Dan is frustrated that the manufacturer, Kraft Heinz,  “shrunk” what is included in the packaging without a warning on the box. The company told me the change is due to a “national shortage on the crackers.”

“Given my son's autism, flexibility is not his strong suit. So when a change like this happens, his mother and I have a mini-anxiety attack, then see how we can address it,” Dan said.

KRAFT RESPONDS TO MISSING CRACKER

Emily Miller @emilymiller

@myfoodandfamily I've emailed all your media relations team and no one responded. I have a question about your Lunchable product change.

A spokesman for Kraft foods asked me in a private message on Twitter to get the UPC code from Dan. Then I got this response from the company about the change:

We have seen unprecedented demand for Lunchables over the last two years, and as a result, have had challenges procuring select ingredients. 

Currently, there is a national shortage on the crackers we use…