Foods That Don't Taste the Same Anymore
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Yesterday I treated myself to a much needed packet of biscuits and chose digestives for a good dunk! How disappointed was I? They were McVities with 'The Original' plastered all over them but tasted anything but. More like an own brand biscuit, thinner and not as grainy(?) as before.
I have also found it with tomato soup and baked beans to name a couple more. Are my taste buds failing as I age or is this a cynical cost cutting exercise by manufacturers?
Have you noticed any of your favourites losing flavour?
When I was younger I used to love HobNobs, due to being diagnosed as borderline diabetic , I haven't eaten them for years, but my husband bought a packet I thought I just have one,I couldn't finish it it was so sweet. I think your taste buds change as you get older 
I have the same problem and so have been off sugar for quite a while (sometimes a little slips in but that is ok) so I must admit I find everything a lot sweeter now. Especially the low calorie hot chocolate, I can barely drink Options as it is so sickly sweet.
I only ever buy the supermarket own brands of things now. We recently swapped supermarkets, for a few reasons and the supermarket own items there are just as good as the big brands that we used to buy. There are very few branded items that I think are worth the money. I buy value biscuits and they are just as good as the big brands. I think that the supermarket own brands are getting better. Perhaps the big brands have had to change their recipes to lower salt and sugar content so the taste has changed?
I agree with you, the Aldi I use is directly opposite a McVities biscuit factory, but they wouldn't get my custom even if they had a factory shop, Aldi's prices are a fraction of McVities' and most biscuits taste better.
davidstockport Aldi biscuits are amazing! I like Lidl biscuits too, they are so cheap and taste amazing, so much nicer than the big brands
MrsCraig Is there a bad biscuit I have to admit I find all the value range biscuits very nice for the type of biscuits I like. I'm pretty sure they are coming out of the same factory. A few of the biscuits I can't tell the difference with be it Tesco value, Morrison's savers, Sainsbury's basic's, Asda Smart price, Lidl, Aldi etc. The Lidl and Aldi versions have packaging to resemble the big brands but the biscuits pretty much all taste the same to me. I love digestives and the only recent digestives I didn't like as much were the low fat, low sugar variety. Lidl do a fruit and nut style chocolate bar 200g for somewhere around 70p and that is what I buy in Lidl as a treat as I can't find decent toffees in Lidl which is my preferred treat. The chocolate bar is very nice though and great value.
BonzoBanana I would say that fir me fig rolls are a bad biscuit!! But yes I agree, I can not tell the difference between any of them. I reckon they all come from the same factory too
MrsCraig I love those fig roll biscuits but don't think I've seen them for a while. I now fancy a packet.
Cadbury's chocolate: Used to be my number one choice. I still like it, but since the recipe changed I have other favourites now. Aldi chocolate is my go to chocolate nowadays.
I used to love cadburys, the big chunky bars, not the wafer thin ones that weigh half as much but cost twice the old price. Since they were taken over by America it tastes very oily and slimy compared to previously. I rarely eat choc now for same reason as beccatavender but if ever I do succumb I like galaxy.
RegularComper90 Aldi’s fruit 
and nut 
chocolate 
bar is so great! Bigger size and much cheaper! Definitely recommend them!
I think it's an age thing, tastes change as we get older. OH and me find things are or seem an awful lot sweeter now and as Lynibis says somethings are a disappointment. McVities make 'supermarket own brand' items but are very secretive about which ones and Weetabix make cereal for Asda and Tesco.
Yes, I must admit that foods I used to love I no longer care for and vice versa, I suppose taste buds wear out just like everything else lol.
There's so many things that have changed for the worse.
Defo Heinz/Branston beans. I used to like Walkers Squares and Roysters crisps too, but they're horrible now.
Also nearly all pop these days contain sweeteners and taste disgusting, all just to get around the sugar tax. It's costing me a fortune for Fentimans and Dalstons 
Brains faggots.
Findus crispy pancakes.
M&S Cumberland pie
Crusha milkshake
Peter's pies......
Whilst I agree with all the comments, I am sure that cost cutting also has a lot to do with it. Just putting less of a tiny amount of an ingredient can save them loads when they are selling hundreds of thousands.
Another pet hate is when a brand I love is discontinued. So many things I used to love that I can no longer get hold of........oh well.
Lynibis I know what you're saying.
I used to love Brains faggots back in the day, but they're absolutely shocking now.
The main pork ingredient is rehydrated pork rind, followed by pork liver (14%).
Actual pork weighs in at a very poor 4%.
I used to like Fray Bentos pies too, but instead of enjoying them these days, it's more like having a game of 'Hunt the Meat'.
I used to love making Crush milkshakes I realise the stuff was like liquid sugar with a hint of fruit but it made an amazing milk shake then the lower sugar formulation came in and I stopped buying it. I actually still like Brain's faggots they still work for me but only buy them occasionally to go with some cheesy mash and baked beans.
I think it's both your taste buds change but manufacturers also change them. I always hate it when a favourite is new and improved as usually tastes worse
Completely agree with baked beans, i prefer to use beans and sausages as feel the sauce in them tastes much better for some reason
I must admit I love the beans and sausages but I just have to close my mind to the ingredients the sausages are made from lol.
On a similar theme, I have just ordered cupcake paper cases and notice you now get 75 instead of 100. No cheaper though.
Lynibis ...When our daughter was born in September '98 Babywipes contained 80 wipes,out shopping at Morrisons yesterday with my service user & I noticed they now contain 58!!
Hi lynybis i found this out has well tasteless. I now buy lidl's own digestives called towergate they just like mc vities use to be. I think the packet cost only 40p. All towergate biscuit are very good and tasty all so love there rich tea biscuit and there chocolate digestives they are lot cheaper then the brand ones and taster. 
Hollands pies , I used to enjoy meat and tatoe pies so much , then one day they weren't aren't the same , is it me is it them is it Ragnorok ?? 
Yes, I think people have a point when they say sugar is reduced but it will take a while for us to become accustomed. It also must save them money but of course they will say 'it's for our own good'
It's strange that you should mention digestives as Mr T loves them. I had bought him a double pack and they said the right thing BUT looked and tasted different. We gave the lot to the birds. When I bought another pack they were back to the original biscuits. We are waiting now to see what the next pack brings!
I think that in the main the reality is that manufacturers are changing the composition of a whole range of products, supposedly for the benefit of the consumer i.e. less sugar, fat etc. It's a pain in the a**e. Most consumers are quite capable of knowing what they like and what they don't and will probably veer towards other products, as I do. I certainly don't eat much chocolate these days, other than the lindt balls, due to the change in taste of most well known brands.
Not so much flavour, but size changes make me sad now.. chocolate bars being half the size they used to be, wotsits being a lot smaller, it always makes me wonder if I’m going crazy or everything has got smaller 
I know what you mean. Someone mentioned wagon wheels and I am not sure if they now seem smaller because I am a lot bigger, or they really are smaller, I suspect the latter.
As I have been dieting for a few years now I usually treat myself at the weekend. This week McVities Club, orange flavour. I used to love these when younger but it's been many years. My first bite and I thought uh oh this isn't right. Their slogan was , if you like a lotta chocolate on your biscuit join our club. I used to bite off the choc and be left with a whole biscuit, not now, it's too thin and as for the orange cream, could hardly see it, or taste it. The chocolate tasted bitter, almost like plain choc instead of milk.
Strange how I started this chat with a mcvities biscuit!
It is the same with Heinz tomato ketchup it's a lot thinner now and Heinz beans Asda baked beans tastes better than Heinz
I've noticed that Heinz soup isn't as good as it was. I used to love Heinz Tomato soup and Chicken soup...but they just haven't got the same flavour anymore!??
I have found that many brands make changes to recipes by replacing more expensive ingredients. As a result, they dilute/change some of the flavour.
Cadbury’s is the obvious one since they changed the type of oil they use. I’m not sure i would have noticed if I wasn’t aware of the story but i can definitely tell the difference now especially with cream eggs which have a slightly greasy taste
Charmed1 I don't like Heinz beans anymore but I tried Branston and found the beans were not soft but more what I would describe as al dente.
I might try Asda's next as recommended by stephenjgard
Nadiaparveen I actually bought some Seabrook crisps a while ago as they were cheaper than walkers. They were really nice and a bit like the Walkers Max crisps with a lot more substance and crunch to them.
Lynibis today I tried Seabrook's roast beef and Yorkshire pudding flavour crisps I picked up from a b&m store. It was goooood.
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