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Talk about processed in China, the apple juice I have in the refridgerator says "made in China from consentrate" I would never have even thought about that until now.
It's the same deal as with every house brand...somethings are identical to their name-brand counterparts, some aren't, so you have to be choosy and realize that there aren't any blanket statements when it comes to quality.
Example. I get a 64 ounce tub of Kirkland Mayo for about $4.00 bucks and the Best Foods/Hellmans is twice that much. The flavor and consistency are exactly the same.
I bet even the Walmart brand mayo isn't that cheap.
I haven't tried Walmart brands but I have to agree that Kirkland brand products are a good value, with one exception - unless they've recently changed the formula, the Kirkland brand dishwasher detergent does not do a good job on my dishes.
Buying WalMart's "brand" is no different from buying the store-brand in any other chain of supermarkets. The product is not "made" by WalMart or the grocery chain, they just buy stock from a large producer and have their label put on it, and get a lower price by contracting for volume commitment.
It makes sense to try a store brand. The worst you can do is throw it away and lose $1.69, or set it aside and put it in kids meals or potlucks. On the other hand, you could discover that it is perfectly satisfactory, and save hundreds of dollars over a lifetime of shopping. Some product are "made" with multiple ingredients, like canned chili with beans or flavored yogurt. Others are simply commodities, like butter or raisins or corn flakes, and they are put into a container. How different can they be?
My rule of thumb is to read the sodium content. Salt is used to mask the inadequacy of tasteless ingredients. The more salt they need to add, the worse the natural flavor of the product ingredients. Sugar can be a similar indicator.
As long as I can remember, all American apple juice that is sold at room temperature is made from concentrate. And I can remember back a long time. Apples do not grow on trees---at least, not all year round, they don't. It is easier and cheaper to concentrate it and store it that way, until it's needed to reconstitute it for delivery to the marketplace. Think about it--- storage and shipping are among of the biggest costs of food. Warehouse floor space and truck cargo space is very expensive. Your cost of apple juice is significantly reduced if they only need to store and move a quarter of the volume.
After a few bad experiences, and reading the labels on the GV (we call it "Gonna Vomit") brand products, we don't buy any store brand items from Walmart. The dairy products tend to have lots of fillers, and the ingredient list is markedly different on the GV brand than the name brands. Also, my husband brought home dry pinto beans for me one day, and they were the dirtiest batch of beans I'd ever seen - many broken beans, moldy beans, rocks, etc.
I don't trust their meats - they just don't look right. And our experience with their produce is dismal. It doesn't taste very good, honestly. We're lucky to have Sprouts here, and the contrast is amazing; Sprouts' prices are as good or better than WM on produce, as well.
Well, my consensus now, based on this experience with the fake Dijon mustard, is that I am going to spend the extra money for what I really want. Great...now I have some "Great Value" mayo in the fridge...
I also bought some GV spices, I think that they are probably okay.
I don't buy meat, or even veggies or produce at Wal-Mart...it just seems too suspect to me. I don't know why. Yet, I bought the stupid fake mustard...and look at what happened...completely ruined a delicious ham and swiss...
I dont shop at Wal-Mart, but some of the stuff that is Target brand - is really good - better than "name" brand.
Reps to you. I love Target's brand. I am not much of a pizza fan, particularly frozen pizza, but their spinach & goat cheese frozen pizza is delicious. A lot of their frozen foods are really good as are their chips, cookies and cereals. And the tuna in their deli is the best I have had anywhere. Yay Target lol.
The only Walmart brand stuff I can get into are their cereals. And they have sliced lemon cake in their bakery that is to die for. Everything else I have tried is pretty yucky but I admit I don't go there a lot so I haven't tried a whole lot.
Buying WalMart's "brand" is no different from buying the store-brand in any other chain of supermarkets. The product is not "made" by WalMart or the grocery chain, they just buy stock from a large producer and have their label put on it, and get a lower price by contracting for volume commitment.
It makes sense to try a store brand. The worst you can do is throw it away and lose $1.69, or set it aside and put it in kids meals or potlucks. On the other hand, you could discover that it is perfectly satisfactory, and save hundreds of dollars over a lifetime of shopping. Some product are "made" with multiple ingredients, like canned chili with beans or flavored yogurt. Others are simply commodities, like butter or raisins or corn flakes, and they are put into a container. How different can they be?
My rule of thumb is to read the sodium content. Salt is used to mask the inadequacy of tasteless ingredients. The more salt they need to add, the worse the natural flavor of the product ingredients. Sugar can be a similar indicator.
As long as I can remember, all American apple juice that is sold at room temperature is made from concentrate. And I can remember back a long time. Apples do not grow on trees---at least, not all year round, they don't. It is easier and cheaper to concentrate it and store it that way, until it's needed to reconstitute it for delivery to the marketplace. Think about it--- storage and shipping are among of the biggest costs of food. Warehouse floor space and truck cargo space is very expensive. Your cost of apple juice is significantly reduced if they only need to store and move a quarter of the volume.
Food that is enhanced by MSG - which is monosodium glutamate can enhance or mask poor quality food to be make it taste artificially nice. It changes the preception of taste in the tomgue receptors or initial oral route of sensation. http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm
In fact, there is a new chemical to make your food and drinks taste artificially better and soon it would be on the way from soup to drinks! From food giants to drink multinational companies racing to sign the pact with the Senomyx to make the food artificial better with cheaper costing instead of the real thing. MSG-Like 'Senomyx' Being Hidden In Food
So those chicken soup or beefy broth may not be that real with actual stocks!
In fact, so the so called diet coke which is supposely to be healthier especially with those people with diabetic compromised may actually be worse off with the aspartamate ingredients! And it was found that generally people drinking diet coke can find it more potentially additive than the regular coke with HFCS which is also a major problem. http://www.msgtruth.org/aspartam.htm
IMHO , manufacturers like to use all these aritificial chemical as they may think consumer is not that smart, save costings due to less quality food and faster to cook or to prepare ( think about that wonder packet that comes with instant ramen noodles or those pop drinks sold in the supermarkets ). Think that they used it because they care about you?
BTW, salt is not a good flavor enhancer - it is may be salty to make a poor quality beef or chick to be tasty. Look at the food labels, it is not sodium choride as a ingredient but
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