It's Not Your Imagination, Babybel Cheese Has Gotten Smaller — Here's Why

The Babybel brand is instantly recognizable for its adorably petite cheese rounds enveloped in a brightly colored wax coating (which is unfortunately not one of the surprisingly edible cheese rinds). We love the tiny size, but if you feel like those teensy red cheese wheels are even smaller these days, you're not going bananas. Many of Babybel's cultured dairy products have, in fact, shrunk.

On its FAQ page, the company admitted that it has slightly reduced serving sizes of four popular varieties of Babybel "to maintain the same high quality and price for our consumers." In other words, this is a clear-cut example of sneaky snack "shrinkflation." Unsurprisingly, the company is scarce on details about the specifics of the change, but it seems that Babybel cheese rounds used to weigh in at 22 grams each, and at some point in the last few years, the petite dairy treats quietly shrank to a scant 20 grams a pop. Two grams might not sound like a lot, but that's a slightly over 9% size reduction, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Babybel claims that it cut the portion sizes of its Original, Light, Gouda, and Mozzarella snacking cheeses in order to maintain the same quality and price for consumers and "ensure we can continue to deliver the same goodness." To be fair, Babybel's production costs probably have increased substantially, considering that milk prices have gone up more than 20% in just the last five years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. However, many consumers point out that Babybel prices have also increased in recent years, despite the smaller portions. And, as is often the case with shrinkflation, it's safe to say a fair amount of shoppers would rather pay a little bit more for the same size product than be left hungry and confused by deceptively minuscule cheese rounds, which are wheel-shaped for a scientific reason.

If you're feeling salty about diminishing dairy portions, you might find some solace in the existence of Babybel Maxi. This enormous peel-and-eat Edam-style cheese clocks in at 200 grams, a whopping 10 times the size of a regular Babybel. Unfortunately for American Babybel lovers, at the time of writing, the extra-large dairy treats are not available stateside. If you're looking for other ways to sniff out dwindling serving sizes, check out these tips for stopping shrinkflation from killing your grocery budget.