Hot Cheetos don't taste the same

famous@lemmy.world to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 62 points –

Is it just me? I was disappointed in their taste. They just don’t hit like they use to or am I just losing my mind

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Blame the average person thinking jalapenos are too spicy. A lot of restaurants tone down their food for that reason as well. These products are designed to cater to as many people as possible and unfortunately those of us that actually want spicy food to be spicy are a minority.

A lot of restaurants tone down their food for that reason

Here's a little anecdote:

I used to work for a company in Utah that had a subsidiary in London. One day, two of our UK colleagues came to visit us. In the evening, we invited them to the local Indian restaurant, because they said they liked a good curry.

We sat down at the table, and our colleagues kept quipping about how US Indian food is bland compared to what can be found in London, that the best curries in the world can only be found in London, and yada yada.

The waiters arrived, took our orders, and asked each of us how spicy. Feeling cocky, the Brits said "Nuclear!".

The waiters paused a bit, then said "Are you sure?"

"Yeah yeah! Bring it on!"

"Okay then..." and they disappeared into the kitchen.

We asked why they asked that, and they said it would probably end up mildly spicy here.

Then our orders came : the two waiters served us, then served the Brits, then they simply stood there and waited. They didn't go, they just waited, with absolute deadpan composure.

Uh oh... The Brits had a worried look on their faces all of the sudden...

Long story short, they got exactly what they wanted. We had trouble not laughing out loud 🙂

Brits trying to claim any other food is bland is always hilarious. The land of boiled foods and a distinct lack of spices, despite their empire being based largely around collecting and moving them around.

You think that’s funny… Try living with the Dutch and and their history with the spice islands, and then getting nothing but nutmeg in your food.

I got Thai curry from a new place. I have NO head for capsaicin heat, but I do like a bit of warmth so when he asked me how hot I wanted it on a scale of 1-10, I said three. He said that wasn't too bad.

I had to eat little bits alternating with lots of rice. He was from Thailand. Apparently, his scale is exponential. I can't imagine what a ten would be like.

The Pakistani chef at a restaurant I went to ask us if we wanted it "white people hot" or "brown people hot".

I mean for those who want spicy hot cheetos, the black xtra hot one exists regularly nowadays.

You say that, but spicy chips in the convenience store I worked at sold far faster than any other option. That will obviously vary by location, but the customers exist in large numbers. Any exec choosing to chase more customers with that tactic will just drive their existing customers away.

Depends on where your average person is. Your average person from Dublin probably has a different heat tolerance than your average person from Tijuana.

could be skimpflation. company's have been changing ingredients slowly to lower the cost of ingredients to save on cost. doing it very slowly over years they end up saving money and no one really notices the changes.

if you can find an old ingredient/nutritional list from a few years ago you can compare ingredient order to see if it's changed

I don't eat a whole lot of junk food, but Andy Capp's Hot Fries are far and away superior to Hot Cheetos. One of few true total junk foods that I do occasionally eat.

i agree, i think they taste much better than hot cheetos but theyre also pretty greasy and i cant eat too many without feeling sick

I tend not to eat large amounts in one go, but I could see that being the case. Still, the flavor is so much better.

I find flaming hot funions to be spicier, and fuego takis to be spicier than the funions

Those have my fav, alone with the flaming hot lays stax

Just wait for them to cool after they finish cooking, duh.

i found and posted an article in a community I mod a few weeks ago about this exact issue.

https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-high-prices-costs-making-food-snacks-sodas-worse-quality-2023-12

That article is dishonest in that it does not mention the unsustainable nature of ever increasing profit. They can blame inflation all they want but with record corporate profits I am not taking any blame for this.

hot tamales and atomic fireballs are the same way, it used to be really hot, now it's similar to just sweet. same with sour skittles, those used to make you bleed but not anymore, it's more sweet then sour

Not just you!

If it says 'flaming hot', then I want flaming hot not lukewarm or worse cold.

I suspect the spices that made them so delish are too expensive and they can squeeze another penny of margin out of it, if they make them so bland they taste like cardboard.