The NYT piece you discussed is completely false. The BLS keeps track of inflation at a given volume/quantity, so changes in packaging have zero effect on the reported rate of inflation (ie going from a half gallon of ice cream to 1.75 quarts but keeping the price the same, will cause inflation to go up because the BLS measures by quantity). A simply read of the methodology by the NYT would have discovered this (but what can we expect form the Times).