What are some products you remember as being awesome back in the day, that you steer clear from and why?
There could be various reasons.
Quality has gone down, taste different, too expensive, product has shrunk in size.
Mine is a very personal one, Carmel Snack Packs- those were the bomb, I could eat 6 in one sitting. Then they released this ghastly new and "improved" version. Was never the same, and not surprisingly that flavour is not on the shelves anymore.
True
also saw on Gruen that colgate toothpaste and morning fresh washing liquid worked out just to make the hole bigger so people would use more per go. It didnt clean better just you used more so had to buy more often.
You will generally find with any decent laundry detergent you can use 1/2 to 2/3 of the recommended dose for the same result.
Bottles of homebrand soft drink at Woolworths used to be 1.5L, for like.. 85c? (I could be way off with the price here, it's been a while since I'd bought any! but it was <$1) and they've since been reduced to 1.25L just like every other brand.
I loved those 1.5L bottles. Their Diet Cola used to taste pretty darn good to me, too. Just bought a bottle last week after a long break from it, and the smell instantly put me off (taste wise it was alright). Smelled very chemically. Ugh. Could just be in my mind though. Back to pricey branded Diet Coke it is now :/
Have you tried Coles? I find that there seems to be some exclusivity or significant difference in stocking levels for certain sizes of soft drink between Coles and Woolworths.
By the by, if you're happy with homebrand - do Aldi offer a better alternative size for price?
Aldi do nice zero cola diet must they same
Coles one is ok
Woolworth zero is nice diet is not as good.
But do drink my with rum.
Toobs - They used to be a delicious and yet a painful experience, now I'm sure they're not as delicious and they're certainly gentler on the mouth.
Having said that, here's about 20 years intervening my last Original Toobs taste versus the current Toobs… so maybe it's me that's changed.
Yes Toobs rocked! I loved them when I was a kids of the 80's and was so excited to hear of the come back. Sadly they are a watered down version of what they were. :(
I agree, but I think your mouth has more tolerance to pain now (I'm saying this whilst eating a pack of toobs).
Oh I had some toobs the other day and they felt HARDER…. hmm weird. My tooth is playing up tho :(
Pizza shapes and BBQ shapes.
They have completely different toppings on them these days and they are sprinkled very lightly.
There also smaller boxes. Gone down from 250g to 175g
scum.
I never even noticed! Those sons of bitches.
Similar thing happened to Savoy, it went down from 250g to 225g, so effectively when they sell 10 boxes and get paid for 11 boxes. Likewise with some cereals …
They moved the factory from Melbourne to Sydney. Thats when things changed.
I didn't know that.
KFC! Grabbed a combo deluxe @ the Elizabeth Street store in the CBD for lunch today. Showed the nice girl at the counter the voucher from this deal and she gave me a box with a zinger burger, large chips (I swapped the potato and gravy for chips), a drink and 3 wicked wings , which didn't look like wings at all but more like mini drumsticks.
I was quite impressed with the quantity, if not quality of the meal, until I realised that the wings shouldn't have been included in that deal.She must have been an ozbargainer or a big fan of star wars (I was wearing my " Trust me I'm a Jedi" Tshirt).
Anyway , the food was quite revolting, the chips were too salty and I felt like crap for most of the day. I used to love KFC so much when I was a kid :( What has happened? Have they changed? or is it me, who has changed?
Maybe I should add that I haven't had meat or poultry in a while. My kids have been ethical vegetarians since their conception. So we never buy or cook any meat or poultry. We only have seafood when we have guests over.
To non-vegans, does KFC still taste as good as they used to in the 90s?
Hmmm, I am not sure it might be a regional thing or actual changes to KFCs. When I bought one from KFC in Canberra, I found it to be borderline revolting. I found the fried coating of the chickens to be disgustingly greasy and moist.
It was little bit sad because I loved KFC 10 years ago. Whether it is due to regional differences or just changes to KFC in general, I know that at least, I won't be going to KFC Canberra.
Was this KFC Hawker? If so that restaurant is notoriously bad. The area manager told me that they have had problems there for a long time now.
I think it was Dickson, but not too sure… I never went back and it has been like few months since I've been there.
It might just be that you haven't eaten it for 10 years and it was always revolting and you just didn't realise it.
You can add KFC Canberra City to the shit list I'm sorry to say
It would have been Dickson… Everything about that suburb is terrible!
Dickson Asian Noodle House is quite good, drop by there every time I pass Canberra… their laksa is perfect most of the time (- quality sometimes inconsistent, varying degrees of saltiness)
The Kingsland vegan restaurant around the corner was charged because the owner didn't want to kill cockroaches and the place was infested with them.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/vegetarian-restaura…
@Jay43: Didn't that make the food non-vegetarian…? I mean.. all that critter protein in the food O_O
Not related though, the vegan restaurant is also attached to a whole different building, that's far away enough for me :P
Wow i guess that restaurateur took pacifism to the next level
What has happened? Have they changed?
When Kentucky Fried Chicken was bought in 1987, the new owners changed everything. The recipe, the name and their focus.
or is it me, who has changed?
It's also partly you. Even their oil or MSG can have this affect on you, given your regular healthy diet.
the chips were too salty
You couldn't shake some of the salt off?
Even their oil or MSG can have this affect on you,
The only reason I got KFC instead of a proper lunch, was because I was busy running around organising the perfect romantic evening for my SO. That and because it was on ozbargain.
I drank heaps of water and didn't eat anything for the rest of the day hoping my system would clear that shit. It didn't. By 6.30 p.m I was hugging my toilet and dry-retching. So much for my romantic evening:(
Aww man that made me lol pretty hard!
It sure takes time for your resistance to build. Like grog, I suppose.
NYE I was also driving the porcelain bus.
MSG is fine. There was a hysteria about it. And that's what it ended up being - hysteria: http://www.businessinsider.com/is-msg-sodium-in-chinese-food…
go to a kfc in asia, so much better for some reason even though the kids are getting paided less
I did recently. Didn't really notice any significant difference other than the need for us to get hot and spicy back.
I only had the motivation and time to try it once in Malaysia late last year. I can't say that the quality or presentation was superior on my visit however for the significantly reduced price you pay there it was much more acceptable for my wallet. As opposed to here where you basically gamble on a $10 meal (less with coupons but still) as to whether you're going to get the normal quality or the we-hate-your-business quality
POPEYE'S FTW!
On my last bargain AirAsia flight en route to Vietnam, I stopped at what used to be the low-cost carrier terminal at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It used to be vile but now it's OK. I had a chicken burger from Burger King on the way there which was absolutely horrible, a soggy spongy chicken sausage (not breast) patty. But on the way back I chanced on a different chain called Popeye's, which I haven't seen in Australia. Best fast food burgers I've ever had! Close to Aussie prices since it's at the airport, but my definite hot tip for next time you go through KLIA!
@Meconium: I chanced upon a Popeyes in Longbeach CA, it's pretty good and visually appealing, though I couldn't stay because it was night and I realised how close to Compton I was lol
Paided hahaha. I'm not even mad.
But you are right. Asian kfc has crack in it or something. Aussie kfc seems to have introduced cardboard to the 11 herbs and spices.
Asian KFC. The difference is…. the freshness/crispyness. More customers = have to cook more often = fresh/crispy chicken.
The Australian one is the same but not as much customers = sell less = soggy chicken.
May be because of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmvCxjEWsPY oh i remember how it taste sooo good even just a little of those … cough msg
Mcdonalds fried chicken in Asia (eg Taiwan) is the best. Far better than KFC. Other Asian/Asia travellers agree?
Thought that was limited time only deal? However do not ever try McDonald's fried rice, that shit is greasy almost as though they deep fried it.
@Serapis: Nope, Maccas fried chicken pieces is a proud staple in Taiwan. Arguably more popular that the burgers even.
KFC in most 3rd world countries is better. The reason being if they serve crap, they have their store burnt to the ground by the locals.
The only issue is that in Asia I found that the chicken pieces are HUGE (in Indonesia, at least).
presentation, coating flavour, sauces, rice.. all good. but I kept on getting the sickly feeling that the chickens were 'hormonally enhanced'. I have never had chicken pieces that large in Australia.
On the other hand, a friend of mine a few years back went to Hong Kong with his dad.. when his dad asked him how his chicken was.. he noted the pieces were quite small.. His dad laughed and mentioned it was probably some other poultry as the chickens were all quarantined due to the SARS outbreak.
Of course, I have no proof of whether they use enhancements on the chickens, nor if they used pigeons. :P
I had KFC in Singapore in December and the chicken pieces were tiny! It was really expensive too, I paid $20+ for a meal for myself. I finished everything in one go and mind you I'm a small Asian female. Very disappointing. I even took a picture to show my friends cos I was so surprised.
KFC in poor part of the city get more turn over so food is beter if place is busy you will get good food if it not you will get shit.
KFC is dreadful compared to the 1970s. And I hear the 1970s was worse than earlier decades (but in the USA back much further than that of course).
Yup, can confirm chips are way too salty. Had them today.
Omg you have not tried kfc in USA. I think puke taste better
It changed years ago when they added the 5% real fruit logo. They should have just kept it artificial. I haven't drunk it in years.
I thought paddle pop is long gone and it's now Fandangle?
Agreed. When they started adding in real fruit, it didn't even taste like Fanta anymore. I haven't really had it since. Who drinks a soft drink for its fruit content?
They added phenophaline and got rid of the Red 300. You can still get original Fanta from dodgy supermarkets, imported from Turkey or somewhere.
That's a pleasant thought… might just need to get my fix from someplace like that :)
Soda fountains are another way to get the original Fanta.
Since its really just powdered Fanta + soda water, none of that nasty "real fruit juice"
Do you mean post mix? No powder in a post mix.
All ice cream is fat-reduced now. Yet more sweet due to more added sugar. That goes for most food these days.
Bring back junk food dripping in oil, not shiny & sticky with sugar
A matter of time hopefully, as the anti-sugar movement gains popularity.
I don't think I could ever quit sugar, but I do think I would rather a product has fat in it, instead of high amounts of sugar to compensate for the lack of tasty fat.
Rooster Rolls. Soggy mess now.
Were they ever any different?
exctly, they were always a steamed looking mess of a roll. but i still like them occasionally.
Red rock deli chips sigh
What?! I haven't had them in years! Have they changed too? :(
Tastes different, has also shrunk :(
:(
This is a first for me! :O :(
Same with Kettle. I'm not sure when they changed, but Kettle used to be incredible. Like, finish-three-packs-of-original/salted incredible. They used to be so crunchy and thick, and had this nice deep yellow colour to them. Now they're just plain chips, like all the other ones. Honestly, I don't care if whatever oil they cooked them in gives me heart attacks and hypertension. I just want those chips back.
That being said, I've had "Dirty" chips which are pretty tasty, and similarly crunchy, but they're expensive and hard to find.
the kettle chilli flavour - From 1994 I remember almost being unable to finish a pack of them just from the heat/spiciness of it.
now: chilli - meh
Was searching the thread for this comment! What happened to the Chilli chips!? I loved the hot spicy flavour, now I won't even buy them at half price. I read on Ozbargain awhile ago that they substituted the chilli for paprika.
Oh yeah!
Their FB page was flooded about two years ago in response to the Chilligate thing.
To me, it tasted more like a switch to Cayenne pepper. They fiddled with a Very Good Thing.
W4nkers.
The Milo bar from the 80's was far superior.
Yeah, the 80's bar was cool. You could make a drink from it if you wanted. It was compacted Milo wrapped in chocolate. The new bars are soft and gooey
I loved how they were two little bars, so good. Why did they have to change them? I don't know anybody who likes the new ones.
supposedly a choking hazard believe it or not…
@Tal_Shiar: I eat Milo direct from the tin. I'm hardcore. Yes I choke and think I'm going to die at times but it's delicious.
@17731773: haha I do too it's so good right! When I make Milo I add an extra scoop of Milo powder at the top too. And bread with margarine/butter and Milo powder. Try it!!
@lenlynn: that sounds delicious! I made a milo cake and cookies once for a milo loving friend.
Cookies: http://www.elliluca.com/2013/07/milo-cookies-biscuits.html
Cake: http://www.elliluca.com/2013/07/milo-cake-with-dulce-de-lech…
Zumbo had Milo Macarons a while back, might be worth trying it out
Yes, I loved the original Milo bar - as decadent1 said, it was definitely just like compressed Milo, covered in chocolate. The new ones are absolute crap.
They're vile, I hope they bring back the old school one even for a brief period.
^This.
I tried the new Milo bar a few years ago. That was the 2nd biggest mistake I've ever made.
What was the first?
Ahh, my biggest mistake… That was…
sighs and stares off into the distance
Some Beer producers changing bottle sizes cheeky ways to reduce price!
375 down to 355 or even 335
and long necks down from 800 to 750 to 700
mind you this trick happens in almost every product category(eg Tim Tams are now one less)
vb has now free added water
Tim tams. The flavored ones and double dip have even less biscuits than original, something like two less biscuits in the pack but of course they have the package look the same size though. Shonky.
thanks. I didnt know that. I just look on the back of the packs and they say how many biscuits in the pack.
Double comment. Sorry.
its the age old problem….. increase the price or reduce the size :(
or do both as is most cases. and then advertise - exciting new packaging!!!
Anyone remember the standard Dorito's packet size being 225g? It's 175g and shrinking. I bet in a few years time a new Bigger Better Mega Value Pack with higher pricing is released that will be …. 225g.
At least Dorito's still tastes good :)
(eg Tim Tams are now one less)
Tim Tams had 11 in a regular packet in 1997. how many now?
Haven't seen that episode, that doesn't surprise me, sneaky bastards. The one I saw was the spray variety stain remover one.