Mars bar from 1991 shows just how much our chocolate has shrunk

A 35-year-old Mars bar discovered during a house clearance has left people stunned after it was compared to its modern-day equivalent.

Cleaner Victoria Gordon, who tidies hoarders’ homes, could not believe her eyes after stumbling across the sweet treat that dates back to 1991 inside a Scunthorpe property.

The 44-year-old, who runs her own cleaning business, found that the old Mars bar weighs 62.5g compared to a standard bar today at just 40g.

‘While I do totally understand inflation, shrinkflation is a bit of a swizz as my Mum would say,’ Victoria told digital culture magazine creatorzine.com.

‘The size difference was greater than I expected. Even though I knew it was big, I was surprised when I bought one to compare. It is a shame really.’

In 1991, a Mars bar cost between 25p to 30p, however, today it costs £1.20 despite customers getting substantially less chocolate.

Despite being shocked by the find, Victoria said her favourite part of hoarder clearances is finding old treasures like that.’

‘I find so many old and vintage things. I find it fascinating,’ she said in a video shared on social media.

‘I have had videos go viral before, the hoarder houses are always popular but I am surprised how this has taken off.’

The much larger Mars bar was discovered by Victoria while she cleaned out the property, but she said that she nearly threw it away before realising what she had found.

‘It was nearly as big as my hand, which was kind of why I noticed it,’ she told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

‘We were clearing out a hoarder’s house and everything we were rooting through was decades old.

‘This Mars Bar stood out to me because as I picked it up it was nearly the whole length of my hand.

‘I was like, “Wow, look at the size of that!”’

A photo of the retro chocolate bar next to a modern Mars Bar has gone viral online, with many claiming it is an example of ‘shrinkflation’, which is when products get smaller while their prices stay the same or increase.

Mars, however, has said there have been a number of changes to its products over the years.

A spokesperson said: ‘Over the last 35 years, we have made a number of 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.’