# Oscar Mayer Hard Salami has turned to garbage **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600 "2017-09-18T00:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/1 "2017-09-18T00:14:31Z")
I’ve been buying [this product](https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/47134526?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg) for decades. It’s always been consistent and pretty good. My first husband and I used to buy it in the early 70s at King Sooper in Denver even though, at 99 cents a package, it was waaaay outside our budget. (The KS 1.5 loaf of bread was 19 cents back then.) Now the same package of salami is almost $5.00, but I still buy it from time to time. It was a mainstay of my low-carbing days. I bought a package last week and it was completely different and total crap. Very fatty and with a nasty smoky flavor. Turning to the interwebs, I find that [many other people](http://www.kraftrecipes.com/products/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-8oz-1688.aspx) have noticed this change (not for the better). Any Dopers experience this? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/2 "2017-09-18T00:29:44Z")
I’m not a Hard Salami fan, but I did a quick survey on the internet, and others report this, too > **[Oscar Mayer](https://www.facebook.com/OscarMayer)** > > Oscar Mayer. 897,788 likes · 1,091 talking about this. Smile, you’re on the meatiest Facebook page in town. > > IG: https://www.instagram.com/oscarmayer/ > Twit > [@](#): > > Trey Stone reviewed Oscar Mayer — 1 star > > July 27 · > > … > What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on with your Hard Salami? After 100+ years of making it the same delicious way, you change your Hard Salami to greasy soft terrible tasting product. Were you tired of making people happy or were you making too much money? You are losing multi-generational fans. At least have the common courtesy to change the name. I won’t buy or recommend your products to anyone going forward. > > Patrick Chelf > > Patrick Chelf Trey: Couldn’t agree with you more. This was a perfect product that my family bought for over 45 years. It was my archetypal definition of a good hard salami. It’s turned into fatty mush, I’m sure so the moisture content went up and you could put the same amount of weight in an 8 oz. package. Utter crap. We will never buy again. > > 2 · August 25 at 8:52pm > > Mindy Jewell replied · 2 Replies > . > Mildred Yeomans > > Mildred Yeomans Bought two packages of Deli fresh sand. meat. When I got it home from the store I noticed that they had been opened. Then I realized that The meat inside is not secured and the lid was just snapped on and opened up in the grocery bag. ( or before). Threw them both out. Will never buy oscar Mayer products again. How unsafe, unhealthy and unsanitary!!! > **[Amazon.com: Oscar Mayer Hard Salami Sliced Deli Sandwich Lunch Meat (8 oz Pack)...](https://www.amazon.com/Oscar-Mayer-Selects-durell-Salami/dp/B000Q6OULS)** > > Craft the perfect sandwich with Oscar Mayer cold cuts. Oscar Mayer Hard Salami Natural Smoke Flavor Added Sliced Lunch Meat is made with quality meat and packed with flavor. With a classic deli meat taste and a hint of smokiness, our fully cooked... This has three “five stars” and one “one stars” Nothing between. From the one star review: > [@](#): > > If I could give it 0 stars I would. Some time in 2017 Oscar Meyer changed the packaging, the texture, the formulation, the smell, the salami casing, and the flavor. In my book it is inedible now. Check the internet. Oscar Mayer told me nothing has changed… that is a lie. I thought maybe it was a bad batch, so I waited a 2 months and bought it somewhere else. It was just as bad. Save your cash and get salami at a deli because this is not the salami you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/3 "2017-09-18T01:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > this is not the salami you’re looking for. Why did I imagine hearing that sentence in Sir Alec Guiness’s voice? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/4 "2017-09-18T01:14:21Z")
Go to a good delicatessen, buy some hard salami from a good German butcher that they will slice for you, and pay whatever they ask. You will be happier that way. The pre-packaged stuff is not fit for your dogs. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/5 "2017-09-18T02:36:40Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Go to a good delicatessen, buy some hard salami from a good German butcher that they will slice for you, and pay whatever they ask. You will be happier that way. > > The pre-packaged stuff is not fit for your dogs. I expected at least one post like this. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/6 "2017-09-18T12:48:08Z")
Reviews on Walmart’s site are numerous and similarly brutal. Either there’s wide consensus, or the OP is rallying a sockpuppet army for a siege on the Oscar Mayer headquarters. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/7 "2017-09-18T13:14:54Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I expected at least one post like this. :rolleyes: Because it is correct. Better versions of everything Oscar Mayer sells are available. ETA: Not to mention you are saying you can’t eat it anymore and **Ike** offered an alternative. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/8 "2017-09-18T13:54:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I expected at least one post like this. :rolleyes: I can make my own, much better, salami at home. Now that we have that out of the way, maybe the discussion can continue. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Because it is correct. Better versions of everything Oscar Mayer sells are available. > > ETA: Not to mention you are saying you can’t eat it anymore and **Ike** offered an alternative. Oh for fuck sake. Do you really think that people are unaware that alternate salami exists? The OP wants to complain about one of her favorite products being changed and was wondering if others noticed the same thing. She doesn’t want the “best” salami. She wants one specific kind that was one of her comfort foods. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/9 "2017-09-18T14:15:04Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Go to a good delicatessen, buy some hard salami from a good German butcher that they will slice for you, and pay whatever they ask. You will be happier that way. > > The pre-packaged stuff is not fit for your dogs. why would I go to a _German_ butcher for salami? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/10 "2017-09-18T14:18:30Z")
I don’t really buy that stuff, but 4 years ago I bought such things often on the Appalachian Trail and IIRC it was decent. The other brands were not so much. I also often bought higher end ones. Getting a deli sliced order was not all that practical on trail, you want everything sealed until ready to eat as they last longer this way and offers the most choices of variety. Just on a whim I bought some a few months ago, and I don’t think I will ever buy that stuff again, don’t know what mush that was, but it was not what I remembered. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/11 "2017-09-18T15:06:28Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > why would I go to a _German_ butcher for salami? As Axis of Offal members go, I’d pick them over the Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/12 "2017-09-18T15:08:56Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > As Axis of Offal members go, I’d pick them over the Japanese. That took some kind of guts to say an offal thing like that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/13 "2017-09-18T15:37:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > …The OP wants to complain about one of her favorite products being changed and was wondering if others noticed the same thing. She doesn’t want the “best” salami. She wants one specific kind that was one of her comfort foods. That’s really it. I was going to do a whole thread on “products whose quality has tanked,” and open it to similar complaints, of which most of us have many. Then I decided to just limit it to one product made by one company. I generally agree about Oscar Mayer products, EXCEPT for the hard salami, which has been really good these past 40 years. BTW, we don’t have delis where I live, so I went to the deli counter at the fancy-schmancy grocery store and sampled two other brands of salami. At its best, O.M. was much better than either of these. It was dry and not slimy/fatty. Had a tangy taste, but not smoky. Neither of the samples had much taste and both were fatty. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Reviews on Walmart’s site are numerous and similarly brutal. Either there’s wide consensus, or the OP is rallying a sockpuppet army for a siege on the Oscar Mayer headquarters. I want to drive the Wienermobile! P.S. Having a _deja vu_ moment: I posted a salami [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=708423&highlight=salami)in 2013. At that time I WAS looking for the best salami. Boar’s Head was suggested at that time, and that’s one of the not-great samples I had today. I believe the Columbus brand closely approximates O.M. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/14 "2017-09-18T15:43:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’ve been buying [this product](https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/47134526?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg) for decades. It’s always been consistent and pretty good. My first husband and I used to buy it in the early 70s at King Sooper in Denver even though, at 99 cents a package, it was waaaay outside our budget. (The KS 1.5 loaf of bread was 19 cents back then.) Now the same package of salami is almost $5.00, but I still buy it from time to time. It was a mainstay of my low-carbing days. > > I bought a package last week and it was completely different and total crap. Very fatty and with a nasty smoky flavor. Turning to the interwebs, I find that [many other people](http://www.kraftrecipes.com/products/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-8oz-1688.aspx) have noticed this change (not for the better). > > Any Dopers experience this? I was thinking of this thread when I was in the grocery store today. I saw the Oscar Meyer Hard Salami. Has it gotten smaller? My memories of it were that it was the same size as the bologna or cotto salami (so maybe 6 inches in diameter or so), but the packages I saw today were smaller, I’d guess about 4 inches in diameter, and $5.49 for 8 oz (!?) I was tempted to buy it to check with your memories, but I was only an occasional buyer of it, so I don’t think I would remember very well, unless it really took a 180 turn. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/15 "2017-09-18T16:15:06Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > That took some kind of guts to say an offal thing like that. it’s all a load of tripe. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/16 "2017-09-18T16:34:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was thinking of this thread when I was in the grocery store today. I saw the Oscar Meyer Hard Salami. Has it gotten smaller? My memories of it were that it was the same size as the bologna or cotto salami (so maybe 6 inches in diameter or so), but the packages I saw today were smaller, I’d guess about 4 inches in diameter, and $5.49 for 8 oz (!?) I was tempted to buy it to check with your memories, but I was only an occasional buyer of it, so I don’t think I would remember very well, unless it really took a 180 turn. The hard salami was always smaller in diameter than the cotto or the bologna-- 4" sounds about right. What I noticed when I picked up my latest (crappy) package was that the meat looked very fatty, not so much marbled through the meat, but along the edges of the slices. Like there was fat oozing down the inside of the package. It looked weird, but this product has always been consistently good, so I bought anyway. I couldn’t even finish one slice–yuck. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/17 "2017-09-19T11:41:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’ve been buying [this product](https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/47134526?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg) for decades. It’s always been consistent and pretty good. My first husband and I used to buy it in the early 70s at King Sooper in Denver even though, at 99 cents a package, it was waaaay outside our budget. (The KS 1.5 loaf of bread was 19 cents back then.) Now the same package of salami is almost $5.00, but I still buy it from time to time. It was a mainstay of my low-carbing days. > > I bought a package last week and it was completely different and total crap. Very fatty and with a nasty smoky flavor. Turning to the interwebs, I find that [many other people](http://www.kraftrecipes.com/products/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-8oz-1688.aspx) have noticed this change (not for the better). > > Any Dopers experience this? On a lark I bought a pack last night. Yep, totally different. A lot more moist, greasy, and coarser-ground that it used to be. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/18 "2017-10-06T15:03:22Z")
I buy it once or twice a year when I’m out of the good stuff. Seems like I’ve noticed smokiness for a few years now…not just recently. As for the good stuff… it can get rancid pretty quick. What’s the best way to store it? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/19 "2017-10-06T15:13:44Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I buy it once or twice a year when I’m out of the good stuff. Seems like I’ve noticed smokiness for a few years now…not just recently. > > As for the good stuff… it can get rancid pretty quick. What’s the best way to store it? In your stomach. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600/20 "2017-10-06T17:11:30Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > why would I go to a _German_ butcher for salami? Teutonic efficiency. I think your problem is not limited to OM. As you discovered, a lot of the once good brands have gone downhill. I think the push towards restaurants using cheaper cuts of beef (flak steak or flat iron) has lowered the beef available for sausage making. Now producers have to use even cheaper cuts of meat and add fat to maintain the volume in the sausages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-mayer-hard-salami-has-turned-to-garbage/796600.md?page=2)