35-year-old Mars bar discovery sparks ‘shrinkflation' debate

A trauma cleaner has discovered a 35-year-old Mars Bar while deep cleaning a house.

The discovery went viral, reigniting public debate over “shrinkflation” and the shrinking size of beloved treats.

Victoria Gordon, who runs the cleaning company Pocket Rockets, found a chocolate bar with an expiry date of 1991 while clearing out a hoarder’s house in Scunthorpe. The bar was 62.5g and was much larger in size than the version available today (40g).

Gordon shared the photo on social media, comparing the vintage bar alongside its modern counterpart, writing: “Can we all agree that this Mars Bar from 1991 is enormous!” The post quickly went viral on other social media platforms, with users suggesting that this is a perfect example of shrinkflation (where companies reduce the sizes of products while maintaining prices).

Responding to the viral post, a Mars spokesperson said: “Over the last 35 years, we have made several updates to our bar sizes and pack formats to reflect consumer demand, alongside considering wider external factors such as manufacturing costs and the price of cocoa.”

Gordon, who nearly threw the bar in the skip, now jokes she might be sitting on a “gold mine.”

“I do post some hoarding videos, but I’ve never had anything go this viral. It’s so fascinating what people find so interesting. I might do a UK tour with it,” she added.