Rising commodity prices are prompting many food companies to reduce the size of their packages while keeping prices the same, retail analysts said.

Many ice cream packages have shrunk from 1.75 to 1.5 quarts, USA Today reported Thursday. The size of mayonnaise jars, cereal boxes, even the size of bar soap and the numbers of towels in a paper towel rolls have shrunk, the report said.

"I'm waiting to open a carton of eggs and see only 11," Edgar Dworsky, a former attorney in the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Division, told the newspaper.

Downsizing is nothing but a sneaky price increase, Dworsky said.

Spokeswoman for Frito-Lay said shrinking packages was common and Tim Kahn, chief executive officer of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, denied it was a method of sneaking a price increase past the consumers.

"The package-size change couldn't be any more visible," he said to USA Today.

After receiving several thousand complaints, however, Kahn sent a letter to customers.

"I can understand why you may not be pleased with us right now," the letter said. "Our new carton is smaller and no one wants less for the same money."