Now this may sound weird but the other day I crack open a box of my favorite cereal and found quite a suprise. I have always loved Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch since I was first introduced to it in the 70’s. It’s a classic in my opinion and since I’ve grown up, I’ll have my wife buy a box once every 2 months or so for the family to enjoy. So anyway, I crack open this new box and pour myself a bowl. I douse it with milk and proceed to eat the first spoonful. I quickly realize something is different and upon further inspection I can see that the good people of Quaker have CHANGED the texture of good Captain’s finest! It used to be solid and pebble-like (they call it crunch for a reason you know) but now I can see it is full of air pockets. It’s PUFFY! It’s light and fluffier and smells different. Not only that, but the flavor is seriously altered and quite frankly, it sucks. I’m looking at this stuff and wonder…why is it that Quaker felt the need to change a classic? Hello? Can you say “New Coke”?
The weird thing is…this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I also have been addicted to Chef Boy-ar-Dee’s Chili Mac for years. I’m not proud of it, but the truth is the truth. I don’t know about you but when you are seriously hooked into a particular brand of food…you tend to notice the details of why you love the stuff. About a year ago or so, I cooked myself a can and once again, upon eating it…I noticed something had changed. They were no longer using the smaller noodles that made the Chili Mac what it was. They are currently using some oversized noodles that simply alters the taste due to the modifed noodle/sauce ratio. I can’t imagine why companies would do this without advertising the “new and improved” product.
My question is. Is this a common practice and have you noticed anything like this with your favorite foods?
This sounds more like an IMHO, but the GQ answer is that it happens all the time, and they change the recipe because that’s what people want. Market tests show that more people prefer the new taste than the old. They don’t care if they drive away one customer if they gain two others in the process. Plus, advertising “new and improved” on the package can attract the customer’s attention, and get people who have previously passed up the product to try it again.
BTW, I’ve had products change on me. I used to get Chef Boyardee ravioli all the time, until they changed to a “new, improved taste” a few years ago that I think is awful. I could barely choke down one can, and haven’t bought any more since.
They did that to me with the cheese-flavored Chex Mix. I used to eat it like a fiend, now I can’t stand it. The took out the peanuts and added crackers!
Coca Cola, with the introduction of “New Coke.” WAG – I still believe after all the hub-bub died down and they came back with “Classic Coke” to appease the masses who hated New Coke, the company slowly blended out the old formula of Classic Coke to contain just the new formula. Two different cans – same formula.
Food manufacturers that come out with a “salt-free” or “lite” version of their product, sell it in the physically same sized container (can, box, whatever) as the original, but upon close inspection of the label, the contents are several ounces less. The price is already more than the original, but by reducing the actual contents the price/ounce is substantially higher. If I recall Wheat Thins and Wheat Thins Lite follow this dubious marketing scheme.
Ice Cream Makers. In order to sucker the public and increase sales, they come out with a “designer” or “gourmet” version. Upon closer inspection, the only difference is an increased milk fat content. Yeah, the flavor does change just a bit, along with the body of the ice cream but not significantly to justify the outrageous price increase. (Then again, it’s aimed at stupid people who think image is more importance than substance so on second thought …)
Not a food but unleaded gasoline. Lead was removed because it was considered a health hazard, specifically towards children. We now have unleaded gasoline, with so many additives that it no longer is just a health hazard for children; it’s a health hard to everyone, not to mention a cash cow for the oil industry.
Yep, I’ve had food products change on me. Since I also have food allergies it’s a distinct health hazard. One week I’ll be eating “Crunchie-O’s” and be fine. The next week I open a new box and wind up wheezing, gasping, swelling, itching, vomiting, and having a diarrhea attack. *Thanks, guys{/i]
As a result, I am a compulsive label-reader AND I usually don’t bother with pre-prepared food. If I cook from scratch this is less likely to happen.
Now all I have to do is worry about them crossing something I’m allergic to with something I’m not in a lab somewhere, thereby putting even more food off-limits for me.
I’m going to starve to death when I’m 80 because there won’t be anything left I can eat.
Pepperidge Farm Milanos changed a few years back. The cookies used to be tan in color, smooth in texture and ambrosial in taste. Now, they’re white, nubbly and too sweet. Still taste good, but nowhere near as good as they once were. Cost-cutting, I suppose.
When I was six years old they stopped making red M&Ms. The first time I opened a package without red M&Ms I was surprised, of course, and I thought someone made a mistake at the factory. After awhile I realized that the red M&Ms had been done away with for good. As red was my favorite color, I was very disappointed, but I eventually learned to accept it. It wasn’t until many years later before the red M&Ms made their return, but by then I was an adult and it really didn’t matter to me as much.
Like Kat, my friend Sasha would stock up on bags and bags of the Chex Cheddar Mix. Then one day she noticed a change in the packaging, took a handful, and hasn’t touched the stuff ever since.
I found out the other day that Jack in the Box has apparently added katchup to the majority of their burgers where katchup just doesn’t belong. I’ve saved myself from ordering an Ultimate Cheese Burger for a while, and it looks like I’ll be staving off that experience for a little while longer.
Minh Egg Rolls. I used to love these things, eat em by the boxfull…then one day, they got all stringy and started tasting funny. I haven’t had any in two years.
Bar None. It was a great candy bar, one of my favorites. Just a big bar of chocolate wafers and nuts and chocolate and goodness. Then they split the one bar into two for some God forsaken reason, and then they stopped making it.
BabyRuth is apparently different now, too, but I can’t tell in what way.
The potato cakes at ARBY’s used to absolutely rock, then they decided to use a reduced fat cooking oil. C’mon guys! It’s ARBY’s for crissake! I’m not lookin for reduced fat! The potato cakes now have a funny aftertaste. I still will occasionally get when in the hopes of a reversion…alas…none has come.
I often notice that hand in hand with “New and Improved!” comes “Now in Smaller Size at the Same High Price!”
[hijack] Try Mother’s Peanut Butter Bumpers as a substitute for the good ol’ Cap’n Crunch. It’s all tree-huggy and such nonsense, but the density is about the same as the Cap’n’s old stuff, and it is a bit more peanut-buttery.
Also, anyone else notice that whenever Quaker Oats comes up with a new cereal idea, they’re just as likely to make it a Cap’n Crunch cereal as a new name? I mean, come on, what the heck do chocolate donuts have to do with the original barrel-shaped product? Geez…
Also, I just noticed that Mother’s is owned by Quaker, which may explain some of the similarities between Bumpers and the PB Cap’n Cruch of youre. [/hijack]
Apple Jacks!! Now, they contain a combo of regular apple jacks and “green” apple jacks - blam just like that! Hello? Green apples suck, thank you. Oh, I’m one of those disillusioned folks that think it is healthy because it’s partially green now?
Remember when Burger King changed its fries recipie a few years ago? I hated the new version. I’ll still get them with a BK order now, but they pale to the potato-thick fries they had way back when. Now it’s mostly fried skins.
I still rue the day they put caramel in Whatchamacallit. I was sitting in the back of my parents Mazda outside the Hilo post office when I bit into it and it just tasted so different. I’ve only have 1 or 2 in the 20 odd years since then.
Osiris, I was reminded of the Whatchamacallit change when reading Elvis’s note about the Bar None. It could’ve been worse, though. At least the resulting candy bar is still pretty good, although it’s not as good as it was, I think. It hasn’t been completely ruined and I can still eat 'em once in a while.
I love rice cakes. Not the fancy-schmany flavored rice cakes, but just plain rice cakes. Chico-San used to be the big seller around here and they ran about $1.19 a package. Then Quaker got in on the action: now they have various icky flavors of rice cakes and a vast assortment of popcorn cakes. I have to make a special trip to a health food store and hope they have the plain rice cakes in stock.
