# What Is Really In Classico Pasta Sauce?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 29, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372 "2012-02-29T18:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/1 "2012-02-29T18:21:42Z")
On occasion we would buy commercial pasta sauce, usually last-minute when we don’t have the ingredients to make our own. When we buy, it’s Prego, or Ragu. Whatever Costco has, or the local store if really last-minute. However, we tried the Classico brand of marinara sauce ([http://www.classico.com/red-sauces.aspx](http://www.classico.com/red-sauces.aspx) ). Also at Costco. The first time we used it, I got really, really weird dreams that night. Hallucinations, actually. Colors, sounds, smells. The next morning I had a dull headache. I made no direct connection with Classico but considered it was from something I ate the night before. Well, the scientific method approach within me got me thinking. So I replicated the dinner, knowing exactly what I was eating. Exact same result - hallucinations, colors, sounds, smells. Several months later and our favorite pasta sauce was out so we bought Classico again. This time I carefully watched what I was eating all day long. Pasta that night. Classico sauce. It happened all over again. I suspect I’m experiencing a weird food “allergy” to one or more ingredients in Classico pasta sauce. Unless, of course, Classico has on several widespread occasions, with different batch numbers and date stamps, _used other ingredients_ in their production. We do not buy Classico anymore. In fact, unless we are having a pasta craving and have to buy sauce, I now only make my own from scratch. I usually make my own pasta sauce; we just get lazy at time. Not anymore. Whenever I buy the ingredients, I double the amount. So when I’m on my second batch of ingredients, I know I have to buy double the next time I’m in the store. Anyone else every experience a weird reaction to commercial food products like this? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/2 "2012-02-29T19:49:57Z")
First, which flavor(s)? Second, you don’t explicitly say: was the dinner identical, sauce, pasta, sides, etc.? Because then I don’t see how you can draw that conclusion when you replicate it. I’ve never noticed anything, from your link I’ve had, I think: Tomato and Basil, Florentine Spinach and Cheese, maybe Vodka sauce or another. I remember the Basil being rather strong, but nothing unusual about the taste. And you realize other people would play triple just to get “hallucinations, colors, sounds, smells”? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/3 "2012-02-29T20:25:59Z")
Yeah, what flavors? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/4 "2012-02-29T20:35:41Z")
Was it the Hearty Italian Pepper & Psilocybin version? That one always keeps me up with hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/5 "2012-02-29T20:39:41Z")
Maybe the “85% nutmeg” flavor? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/6 "2012-02-29T20:50:16Z")
Low in saturated fat, high in psilocybins. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/7 "2012-02-29T20:53:19Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > And you realize other people would play triple just to get “hallucinations, colors, sounds, smells”? Maybe the OP is a viral marketer? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/8 "2012-02-29T20:57:45Z")
Maybe they just use tomatoes with a particularly high acid content. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/9 "2012-02-29T21:01:16Z")
Nothing I can share on the question front. But am I alone in thinking I’d be much more bothered than the OP appears to be by unexplained hallucinations? I don’t think I’ve ever had a hallucination that wasn’t preceded by a clear chemical cause. Am I just lucky? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/10 "2012-02-29T21:06:41Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Nothing I can share on the question front. But am I alone in thinking I’d be much more bothered than the OP appears to be by unexplained hallucinations? Hallucinations while sleeping. Everybody has those. I just took it to mean (her?) dreams were extra weird that night, with sensory overload. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/11 "2012-02-29T21:09:01Z")
Or had a migraine? ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/12 "2012-02-29T21:11:10Z")
I regularly eat their Fire-Roasted Tomato and Garlic sauce, as in once or twice a week. I’ve also tried several other of their flavors. Never had any hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![Whyzen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Whyzen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whyzen)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/13 "2012-02-29T21:19:17Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > However, we tried the Classico brand of marinara sauce ([Pasta Sauces | Kraft Heinz](http://www.classico.com/red-sauces.aspx) There are two types of Classico marinara sauces: “Marinara with Plum Tomatoes” and “Cabernet Marinara with Herbs”. I’m guessing you had the second one. One of the ingredients is “Cabernet Wine (Sulfur Dioxide added to protect color)”. You could be reacting to the wine in a similar way that some people get headaches after drinking some red wines. (Yeah, I know this could be a myth but see The Puzzling Red Wine Headache.) And, of course, there would be just trace amounts of alcohol in the sauce. Problem with my theory is that if you had the Cabernet Marinara, you almost certainly would have considered the possible red wine connection. Also, you might be using “marinara” as a synonym for any tomato-based sauce and you actually had one of the other Classico sauces. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/14 "2012-02-29T22:30:45Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Hallucinations while sleeping. Everybody has those. I just took it to mean (her?) dreams were extra weird that night, with sensory overload. Oh, if that is what was meant, ok. It’s never ocurred to me to refer to anything that happened in a dream as a hallucination so I thought it was meant that the vivid dreams were waking her up and they were continuing. But if it was all while still asleep, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/15 "2012-02-29T22:39:23Z")
Admit it, you’re a shill for Classico and this is a plant, right? You’re hitting other boards too, asking if anyone else has noticed their penis size increase after eating Classico sauce? You will not fool _this_ consumer, sir. If I don’t notice any difference after a couple of cases, that’s _it_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/16 "2012-02-29T23:17:18Z")
This is what happens when they buy their mushrooms from the lowest possible bidder. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/17 "2012-02-29T23:21:42Z")
Sneaky bastard has been planning this for _eleven years!_ ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/18 "2012-03-01T03:55:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This is what happens when they buy their mushrooms from the lowest possible bidder. Those mushrooms usually cost a bit more than your average portabella. I’d love to chat more but I’m off to the store to buy a case of Classico! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/19 "2012-03-01T05:59:56Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I suspect I’m experiencing a food “allergy” to one or more ingredients in Classico pasta sauce. Unless, of course, Classico has on several widespread occasions, with different batch numbers and date stamps, _used other ingredients_ in their production. What, like instead of basil they put in lysergic acid diethylamide? I think you’ve stumbled upon something huge…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372/20 "2012-03-01T06:35:35Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Yeah, what flavors? It’s been months. Next time I go to Costco, I’ll check what they have and update this thread. > [@Spiff](#): > > Maybe the OP is a viral marketer? 😃 Geez. The Cafe folks are a tough crowd. > [@Casey1505](#): > > Or had a migraine? I don’t get migraines. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-really-in-classico-pasta-sauce/614372.md?page=2)