Supermarket Albert Heijn’s frozen battered fish has won this year’s consumer rights campaign for the most misleading product.

The battered fish filets now have just 55% fish compared to 75% a few years ago, while the crust around the fish had become thicker, citizen-based food sector watchdog Foodwatch said.

“Albert Heijn quietly put in less fish while maintaining the same weight,“ Foodwatch said.

Albert Heijn refused to accept the prize, saying that the product contained less fish because consumers prefer a thicker crust. The change had been made a couple of years ago, the supermarket said, and the price had not gone up until 2.5 years after the product had been adapted.

Some 40% of the votes went to the fish, with one consumer saying it was “inedible” and more like “5% fish and 95% dough”.

This year’s Foodwatch awards for misleading products were mainly about shrinkflation, where producers cut back on content and ingredients while the price remains the same.

Milka Choco Sensations, which came second, was found to have replaced sunflower oil with palm oil while runner up Nescafé Farmers Origin India cups contained less and cheaper coffee.

“We had more candidates to choose from this year because these practices are happening on a large scale, partly driven by inflation,” Foodwatch campaign leader Frank Lindner told Nu.nl.

“It’s also an easy way to cut costs. Only the most alert of consumers will notice the change in ingredients or weight. And if we do find out, producers will put up a smokescreen, such as ‘it’s what consumers want’ or ‘it’s the high inflation’, ” he said.