Walmart Shopper Reaches For On The Border Tortilla Chips. Then He Notices Something About ‘Every Bag’: ‘Should Be Ashamed Of Themselves’

Spend enough time in the grocery store, and you’ll start to notice many, many examples of shrinkflation.

For those who are unfamiliar, “shrinkflation” refers to the concept of businesses offering less product but charging the same amount for it. In some cases, these businesses charge even more while shrinking their portions.

While this makes sense from a business perspective, it can be pretty frustrating for consumers. Across the internet, users have shared the most egregious examples of shrinkflation that they’ve seen in the real world. For example, one user said they opened up a bag of Doritos and discovered just three chips inside. Another alleged that a popular pasta brand significantly shrunk the size of its jumbo shells while charging the same price.

Now, a user is calling out another example of shrinkflation. This time, it’s hit the tortilla chip aisle—and users are pretty mad.

What’s Wrong With These Tortilla Chips?

In a video with over 253,000 views, TikTok user Jack Schumacher (@jackschumacher625) shows himself at a Walmart. On the aisle are several On the Border brand tortilla chips.

“This is actually crazy right now,” Schumacher starts. “So, I’m in Walmart, and look at this.”

The TikToker then shows several tortilla chip bags. Through the window of the bag, one can see that every bag is severely underfilled, with chips occupying less than a quarter of the large bag.

“This is—it’s like, every bag,” the TikToker says.

In the caption, he adds, “@On The Border Mexican Grill should be ashamed of themselves. $3.44 for this!!??”

Is This Normal?

Online, other users have complained about this same issue with On the Border brand tortilla chips.

Three years ago, a user on Reddit showed a bag of On the Border chips on the shelves of a grocery store. The bags are similarly underfilled. A comparable image was shared a year ago.

On TikTok, other users have also documented this phenomenon with On the Border chips. One video shows a near-empty bag, while another TikToker griped that his bag was less than halfway full.

That said, it does not appear that this issue is universal. Some videos show bags of On the Border chips that appear to have more chips than others.

Why Does This Happen?

It’s unclear if On the Border intends for the bag to have this many chips. Looking at the nutritional information for a 23.5-ounce bag, the bag claims to contain 24 servings of “about 7 chips.” This would suggest that each bag has around 168 chips. Videos showing the bags appear to contain fewer than 168 chips.

That said, there is a reason why chip bags contain at least some air.

As noted by TODAY, this extra air is actually called “slack fill.” While companies do benefit financially from being able to underfill bags, there are also benefits to consumers. By filling the bags with nitrogen, their contents stay fresher for longer while also adding extra padding to prevent the chips from breaking during transit.

That said, not all chip bags are filled with nitrogen. In fact, one study examining chip bags found that only 44 of the 108 snack chip bags tested contained modified atmosphere. Given this, it is unclear how much air, padding, or modified atmosphere is required to provide the claimed benefits, if any at all.

Commenters Are Upset

In the comments section, users shared their disappointment at this practice.

“Would love to hear from someone who works in the marketing department of these companies who sits in a meeting where someone recommends; ‘lets keep the same size packaging but fill with less product and charge more’ And the group applauds with excitement,” wrote a user.

“You should buy and weigh the bag because that doesn’t even look like the advertised weight,” declared another.

“Yet people keep buying this crap. All while the corporations laugh & fill their pockets. Shame on consumers at this point,” stated a third.

BroBible reached out to On the Border via media contact email, Utz via media contact email, Walmart via media relations contact form, and Schumacher via TikTok direct message and comment.