Frito-Lay source change

[malcontent]

Notice anything different about that bag of chips lately? Frito-Lay has been quietly changing the bags of chips sold here from what used to be primarily USA to primarily China source.

It’s truly a shame when something like this happens, the quality just isn’t quite the same. The first inkling that something was amiss, the packaging is slightly thicker. Then next, the chips were not as delicate or tasty anymore. This change has already happened with Cheetos, as well as most Doritos and Ruffles chips sold here.

I was already bummed about Prego pasta sauce, now sourcing from Malaysia… I am sorry, but they shouldn’t even be putting the Prego name on that stuff. I did find a good alternative for now — Heinz Classico from Redmart is on par, hopefully it will last.

[Lisafuller]

Really? Any change in the taste?

[malcontent]

Really? Any change in the taste?

You can try for yourself. I asked my daughter if she noticed anything different about the Cheetos (without revealing anything else) and she said — they taste healthier!

Had a good laugh when she said that!

[jalanjalan]

Then there's shrinkflation - open a bag of chips and there's like 5 inside.
The cheese ball snacks from IKEA are still good though.

[NYY1]

Out of curiosity I checked at the store tonight on some of the above items. Cheetos were from China or Thailand, Ruffles from USA (didn't check Doritos). I don't eat chips (or any snacks) very often, but I did notice that the chips here seemed very hard. I never checked where they were sourced from though.

For pasta sauce, I've never bought Prego (think it is too sweet) here but did see it was from Malaysia. For me, pretty much all canned pasta sauces are at best meh, and the difference is adding some fresh meat (with fat/juice, most processed meatballs here are terrible). Fry the meat in a skillet, cut/chop, and toss back into the skillet with the pasta sauce. The natural fat/oil will usually make things a lot tastier. I'm not a big consumer of pasta either, but the above with Barilla Arrabbiata sauce is usually half decent. Looks like the one jar of this sauce I have in the pantry is from Italy.

[Lisafuller]

Then there's shrinkflation - open a bag of chips and there's like 5 inside.
The cheese ball snacks from IKEA are still good though.

I hate that, it's so infuriating. Have you ever tried Jack and Jill chips? Their barbecue flavor is delicious but there's like 10 chips in a bag.

[Lisafuller]

Out of curiosity I checked at the store tonight on some of the above items. Cheetos were from China or Thailand, Ruffles from USA (didn't check Doritos). I don't eat chips (or any snacks) very often, but I did notice that the chips here seemed very hard. I never checked where they were sourced from though.

For pasta sauce, I've never bought Prego (think it is too sweet) here but did see it was from Malaysia. For me, pretty much all canned pasta sauces are at best meh, and the difference is adding some fresh meat (with fat/juice, most processed meatballs here are terrible). Fry the meat in a skillet, cut/chop, and toss back into the skillet with the pasta sauce. The natural fat/oil will usually make things a lot tastier. I'm not a big consumer of pasta either, but the above with Barilla Arrabbiata sauce is usually half decent. Looks like the one jar of this sauce I have in the pantry is from Italy.

Barilla is my favorite. They make great pesto too. I like to mix the pesto in with my salads, delicious!

[Lisafuller]

Really? Any change in the taste?

You can try for yourself. I asked my daughter if she noticed anything different about the Cheetos (without revealing anything else) and she said — they taste healthier!

Had a good laugh when she said that!

I haven't had Cheetos in years! My favorite back in the US was the flaming hots but I couldn't find them in SG till recently. Still haven't had them though.

[malcontent]

Really? Any change in the taste?

You can try for yourself. I asked my daughter if she noticed anything different about the Cheetos (without revealing anything else) and she said — they taste healthier!

Had a good laugh when she said that!

I haven't had Cheetos in years! My favorite back in the US was the flaming hots but I couldn't find them in SG till recently. Still haven't had them though.

I will typically buy chips to go with my sandwich. Since WFH started, two of my lunches at home each week will usually consist of a tuna sandwich and some chips. One can of Farmland tuna is enough for 2, so after mixing in the mayo, I put half back in the fridge (where it can last at least one week).

Since around 2/3 of the time my dinner will include rice, I tend to avoid rice for all other meals… although today my lunch will be nasi lemak - something I might have once a month.

[jalanjalan]

Then there's shrinkflation - open a bag of chips and there's like 5 inside.
The cheese ball snacks from IKEA are still good though.

I hate that, it's so infuriating. Have you ever tried Jack and Jill chips? Their barbecue flavor is delicious but there's like 10 chips in a bag.

Haha yes. A bag of chip-scented air.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Or like the trick they pulled with Milo sachets over the past two months. I usually buy two of the 18 sachets bags of Milo 3-in-1 for my wife (I don't drink it) each trip to NTUC. Last month I grabbed a couple of bags and threw 'em in the cart and when I got home, exactly the same size bag but where it says 18 sachets at the bottom left corner of the bag is only had 16 sachets. AND the price went up about 10 cents so I figured, to be expected on the price increase but when I got home I got the double whammy with two less sachets inside. They must have caught some flack over the sneaky double-play as last week the price when up again, but the outside bag was reduced in size. Surprisingly the individual sachets still weigh 27 gms but I'm expecting that to change as well.

[Lisafuller]

Then there's shrinkflation - open a bag of chips and there's like 5 inside.
The cheese ball snacks from IKEA are still good though.

I hate that, it's so infuriating. Have you ever tried Jack and Jill chips? Their barbecue flavor is delicious but there's like 10 chips in a bag.

Haha yes. A bag of chip-scented air.

LOL, that's one way to put it. A hack is to buy the big multi packs filled with small individual servings. For some reason with the packs being so small, they've got to put a little more in or people would riot.

[Lisafuller]

Or like the trick they pulled with Milo sachets over the past two months. I usually buy two of the 18 sachets bags of Milo 3-in-1 for my wife (I don't drink it) each trip to NTUC. Last month I grabbed a couple of bags and threw 'em in the cart and when I got home, exactly the same size bag but where it says 18 sachets at the bottom left corner of the bag is only had 16 sachets. AND the price went up about 10 cents so I figured, to be expected on the price increase but when I got home I got the double whammy with two less sachets inside. They must have caught some flack over the sneaky double-play as last week the price when up again, but the outside bag was reduced in size. Surprisingly the individual sachets still weigh 27 gms but I'm expecting that to change as well.

So sneaky. If your wife likes Milo, she might enjoy the Cadbury hot chocolate mix. It's absolutely delicious.

[Lisafuller]

You can try for yourself. I asked my daughter if she noticed anything different about the Cheetos (without revealing anything else) and she said — they taste healthier!

Had a good laugh when she said that!

I haven't had Cheetos in years! My favorite back in the US was the flaming hots but I couldn't find them in SG till recently. Still haven't had them though.

I will typically buy chips to go with my sandwich. Since WFH started, two of my lunches at home each week will usually consist of a tuna sandwich and some chips. One can of Farmland tuna is enough for 2, so after mixing in the mayo, I put half back in the fridge (where it can last at least one week).

Since around 2/3 of the time my dinner will include rice, I tend to avoid rice for all other meals… although today my lunch will be nasi lemak - something I might have once a month.

Tuna sandwiches are my favorite too! A quick and easy lunch. I'm trying to cut down my carb intake at the moment, so instead of bread, I use hollowed out bell peppers. Sounds really weird, I know, but tastes really great. The crunchy bell peppers complement the smooth tuna mayo very well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Back when I was on my diet hard core I used to make tuna salad and stuff inverted portobello mushrooms and sprinkle grated cheese on top and throw them in the toaster oven. One large stuffed portobello was enough for a meal and stay within my regime.