# Foods that were "improved" where you prefer the old version **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402 "2011-05-10T15:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/61 "2011-05-12T05:08:04Z")
Dairy Queen in Canada has tinkered with their milkshakes. now, they come with whipped cream and a cherry on top. If I’d wanted a sundae, I’d have ordered a sundae. Give me a milkshake, please. And, to add to the problem, they don’t give you a spoon to eat the whipped cream and cherry, just a regular straw. Wankers. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/62 "2011-05-12T19:41:26Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Alpha Bits cereal used to be frosted with an extra-thick crust of sugar. About 5 years ago, they went all health-conscious and got rid of the sugar altogether. Now they taste like cardboard. You can still get the old ones at Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/Post-Alpha-Bits-Cereal-11-5-Ounce-Boxes/dp/B002LV6LWW/ref=sr\_1\_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305229220&sr=8-1](http://www.amazon.com/Post-Alpha-Bits-Cereal-11-5-Ounce-Boxes/dp/B002LV6LWW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305229220&sr=8-1) And I saw them at a Target in SoCal a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/63 "2011-05-12T20:46:36Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > And while I won’t say they were great Mexican food (they weren’t), they were decent fast food that was sort of Mexican like. Today, I can hardly stomach the stuff and rarely eat at Taco Bell unless there aren’t any other choices. I agree entirely. Taco Bell was one of the first fast food places to advertise a dollar menu (probably less than a dollar at the time–50 cent menu?) and the quality (such as it was) took a nose dive (you get what you pay for, after all) and has never recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/64 "2011-05-12T21:29:59Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I agree entirely. Taco Bell was one of the first fast food places to advertise a dollar menu (probably less than a dollar at the time–50 cent menu?) and the quality (such as it was) took a nose dive (you get what you pay for, after all) and has never recovered. Also, when I was in college and got a chicken burrito form them, it was CHICKEN and then lettuce, cheese etc. Years later, I went back for the first time in along time and got a tiny bit of chicken and beans used as filler. Felt like a rip off. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/65 "2011-05-13T23:00:33Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Dairy Queen in Canada has tinkered with their milkshakes. now, they come with whipped cream and a cherry on top. McDonalds does this now too (at least the ones in my ares in MI do) I don’t mind, but really don’t like that instead of regular soft drink cups they now come in those horrible clear plastic McCafe cups. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/66 "2011-05-15T03:48:39Z")
5th Avenue bars! They used to be like a Butterfingers, but **almond** brittle stuff instead of peanut. The chocolate coating was real chocolate, and there were two roasted almonds on top. Then Hershey’s bought them; now it’s nasty too-sweet peanut brittle, godawful brown-wax “chocolate” coating, and NO ALMONDS. Soooo sad. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/67 "2011-05-15T06:57:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Dairy Queen in Canada has tinkered with their milkshakes. now, they come with whipped cream and a cherry on top. > > If I’d wanted a sundae, I’d have ordered a sundae. Give me a milkshake, please. > > And, to add to the problem, they don’t give you a spoon to eat the whipped cream and cherry, just a regular straw. Wankers. Traditionally, milk shakes have come with a bit of whipped cream and a cherry on top. Fast food places eliminated these little dainty touches in the interests of speed and cutting costs. You’re supposed to pluck the cherry off the top and eat it first, and the whipped cream can be sucked up with the straw. Milk shakes are milk and ice cream blended together, sometimes with additional flavorings. Sundaes, on the other hand, are a scoop or several scoops of ice cream, with syrup or sauce and crushed fruit (strawberry or pineapple or such) and possibly chopped nuts on them, topped off with the whipped cream and cherry or cherries. I worked in an old fashioned ice cream parlor for a while. A traditional banana split is a multi-sundae, with a split banana at the base, and then three scoops of ice cream. If it’s VERY fancy, the ice cream is three different flavors. At any rate, the traditional syrups for a banana split are chocolate, strawberry, and marshmallow, IIRC. It’s been a long time since I’ve made one, or even eaten one. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/68 "2011-05-15T12:13:33Z")
Doesn’t matter to me what they originally had - I’ve never seen it before and I don’t like it. Plus, when I’m getting one at the drive through, I don’t want to be trying to dig out a cherry with my fingers, then trying to drive with sticky fingers. As well, the lids now have big open holes in them, about an inch and a half across, instead of just the little hole for the straw. No way Piper Cub is going to get a milkshake in the car now - the potential for accident is just too great. I’ve now got in the habit when ordering of telling them I don’t want the cherry and whipped cream. From the sound of resignation in the wait-staff’s voices, I gather they’re hearing that a fair bit. I wonder how long it will last. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/69 "2011-05-15T12:39:45Z")
The new “Sierra Mist Natural” with cane sugar, which seems to have entirely supplanted the original. It’s got way too much of a sour lemon flavor, and it has a “thicker” mouthfeel, whereas it used to feel “thin” like Sprite or 7-Up. 7-Up, for that matter. The “all-natural formula” they changed to a few years back has a strong anise/black licorice aftertaste to it that I don’t care for. Dean’s French onion dip changed its flavor around 2004 or so from ambrosia in a plastic tub to crap. I buy the Albertson’s generic brand now because it tastes more like Dean’s than Dean’s. Coke - I was only 3 or so when New Coke came out, but I remember tasting it and “Coca-Cola Classic” when they were both available at the same time, and I distinctly recall _hating_ Classic. Maybe that’s why I grew up a Pepsi-drinker. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/70 "2011-05-15T17:33:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Doesn’t matter to me what they originally had - I’ve never seen it before and I don’t like it. Plus, when I’m getting one at the drive through, I don’t want to be trying to dig out a cherry with my fingers, then trying to drive with sticky fingers. Yep, you’re used to a fast food shake, not a real shake. And real shakes were made to be consumed on the premises. Fast food shakes are meant to be consumed on the premises AND taken to go…so their manufacture and packaging should reflect that. That is, maybe they can have some whipped cream, but putting a cherry on them and packaging them with a big hole on the top isn’t a good idea. > [@](#): > > Dean’s French onion dip changed its flavor around 2004 or so from ambrosia in a plastic tub to crap. I buy the Albertson’s generic brand now because it tastes more like Dean’s than Dean’s. I never liked Dean’s that much to begin with. It always tasted pretty bland to me. I always got better results with the old Onion Soup mix and sour cream mixture, if I had a couple of hours to let it set (the flavors need time to blend). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/71 "2011-05-15T19:47:20Z")
Someone mentioned chocolate being made with wax. Someone mentioned Doritos. When I was little I used to love Nacho Cheese flavor, but then they “improved” it by making it bolder. Don’t like so much. Someone mentioned strawberries. They no longer have flavor, and they’re often white. I’ve seen them packaged in the store still pale/green at the top and only pinkish at the tip. Even when they are red, they still are bland. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/72 "2011-05-16T22:04:31Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > When was this change? Sorry, been a nutso week… missed this. They changed them back in the early 90’s, I think. My roommate and I used to love them, but both agreed that the new recipe was sadly disappointing. And yeah, I realize it no longer makes sense to think of it as the new recipe, but what can I say? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/73 "2011-05-16T22:34:12Z")
I can’t eat strawberries except the ones from the berry stand at the local farmer’s market, and they only have them for a few weeks a year. But they’re orgasmically good, little and juicy and sweet…store bought look pretty but are worthless otherwise. I can’t wait for the berries to come into season again! ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/74 "2011-05-17T00:05:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Doesn’t matter to me what they originally had - I’ve never seen it before and I don’t like it. Plus, when I’m getting one at the drive through, I don’t want to be trying to dig out a cherry with my fingers, then trying to drive with sticky fingers. > > As well, the lids now have big open holes in them, about an inch and a half across, instead of just the little hole for the straw. No way Piper Cub is going to get a milkshake in the car now - the potential for accident is just too great. > > I’ve now got in the habit when ordering of telling them I don’t want the cherry and whipped cream. From the sound of resignation in the wait-staff’s voices, I gather they’re hearing that a fair bit. > > I wonder how long it will last. This. The other day at our local McD’s, they gave my daughter a free mini-sample of some new shake flavor or other, and they even put friggin’ whipped cream on that! I blame the whole whipped cream/cherry/giant-holed lid phenomenon on goddamned Starbucks. Also, can I say that this is my first post? (I’m sorry, there isn’t time!) ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/75 "2011-05-17T00:30:05Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > High fructose corn syrup. Ever since we started using this stuff instead of cane or even beet sugar, we’ve seen massive rises in obesity and diabetes. Is the HFCS itself causing this, or is it just because HFCS is put into foods that never had sweetening agents in it before? I think because HFCS is so cheap they add it to things that normally didn’t have it before. It’s ruined sodas, IMO. I like the Pepsi Throwback way better than the regular Pepsi because it has real sugar. Oddly enough, I prefer the regular Mountain Dew rather than the Mountain Dew Throwback. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/76 "2011-05-17T02:50:28Z")
The first thing that came to my mind is the oft mentioned nacho flavored Doritos. Holy crap people, I know Americans have a reputation for a gluttonous “more is better” mentality but lay off the atomic orange cheese flavored space dust already. Once in a great while I’ll crave them, or rather what I remember them tasting like, and I never get half way through a bag. While I’m at it, take your sad excuse for the taco flavored that I prayed you’d bring back and shove its pointy, foul flavored end up yer asses. I don’t think anyone has mentioned Dominos yet. Not that they were ever particularly good but their “improvements” have ensured that no matter how hungover or lazy I’m feeling I’d rather go without. I don’t know if this qualifies as it’s not advertised as “improved”, but what the hell happened to Chili’s chili? I used to be able to make a meal out of a bowl and some curly fries. Now it’s basically tomato soup and the curlies are long gone. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/77 "2011-05-17T03:23:54Z")
I’ll add another vote for the cheese doritos. Too much dust. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/78 "2011-05-17T05:52:15Z")
I remembered another one. I used to love deviled ham. Love it, love it, love it. Now, it tastes like it’s all axle grease and grains of artificially flavored plastic. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/79 "2011-05-17T17:05:24Z")
For fries, McDonald’s are still good, but they lost something when they went from using beef tallow to vegan. Adding to the list, Sara Lee Butter Strusel Coffee Cake. Used to be flaky and tender and delicious but is now just blah ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402/80 "2011-05-17T17:13:06Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I remembered another one. I used to love deviled ham. Love it, love it, love it. Now, it tastes like it’s all axle grease and grains of artificially flavored plastic. Ugh. I grew up on Underwood Deviled Ham. I agree, it’s not as good as it used to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-improved-where-you-prefer-the-old-version/581402.md?page=5)