Page 5 | Which changes in a product you’d liked have been the worst?

Horsehow · 2025-10-04T19:25:10+00:00

Just bought some Huggies wet wipes for the first time in a while. I use them to take makeup off, and they are the only wet wipe that are really effective. They’re thick and somehow really remove the dirt well. But they’ve changed and are now utterly, utterly shite. They’re thin and remove nothing. Why oh why do they do this? Do they not test the product in manufacturing and think ‘this is obviously a shit move’? So frustrating. See also Ribena. Used to be a great occasional drink to soothe a sore throat, now it tastes of nothing but chemicals. Why do that? Surely no one will buy the new Huggies Wet wipes? Surely only 10% of the old Ribena buyers still buy. What is the sense in this commercially?

MattDillonsEyebrows · 05/10/2025 08:14

ThisAmberOrca · 04/10/2025 22:59

@Emori @MattDillonsEyebrows I don’t really buy ultra processed foods, soft drinks etc. I know what’s in them (and it doesn’t really get better or worse - just different)
If i buy any, i buy own brand, not main brand.

Sorry to quote you again @ThisAmberOrca but as you see to be defending the product reformulation departments I am intrigued by the fact you said
‘and it doesn’t really get better or worse - just different’
you must realise it does get worse as it’s quite a well known fact that palm oil has spoilt most if the products that have been mentioned on this thread. Palm oil seems to make everything worse doesn’t it?

Also, I don’t think chocolate of yesteryear would have been classed as a UPF, it’s only what the (bored?) product reformulation departments (who appear to have absolutely no taste buds or morals) have added to it that has caused them to be classed as one now. .

Twogonksandapencil · 05/10/2025 08:09

HeartandSeoul · 05/10/2025 00:32

My Mum has been quite unwell recently, and is currently staying with us as she recuperates from a few weeks in hospital.

Unfortunately, she picked up a cold in her first week with us. One of her favourite drinks to have is/was hot Ribena. We have talked about the fact it is ‘a hug in a mug’, and it works wonders at giving you a little ‘pick up’ when you are under the weather 😊.

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Try Rocks blackcurrant squash - it's a good alternative to Ribena and doesnt have sweeteners. I tried it after it was mentioned on a mn thread ages ago and found it quite similar to old Ribena.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 05/10/2025 06:18

SisterMargaretta · 05/10/2025 05:50

Rubbish. 30 years ago you could buy a huge selection of chocolate bars easily and they were eaten frequently. As a teen in college at the time we all used to buy a kit kat or something with our lunch.

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Yeah l agree.

40 years ago as a student, l lived on fresh air and chocolate. We used to hire a video and gorge in a stash.

Life was never about one square every so often.

labtest57 · 05/10/2025 06:03

Creme Eggs since they changed the chocolate

Somewhereoutthereintheworld · 05/10/2025 06:00

Nutella chocolate spread. Nowadays the flavour is sweeter and less chocolatey.

SisterMargaretta · 05/10/2025 05:50

ThisAmberOrca · 04/10/2025 23:07

@MattDillonsEyebrows good chocolate is available, but not for £1.50 per bar. Crap in, crap out.
chocolate 30 years ago was a rare treat, not something people eat in massive amounts.
in terms of reformulation- its a case of doing the best we can under the conditions in market. sweeteners have off tastes, but no/less calories. regulatory frameworks require less sugar/salt/fat.
People want to have loads of cheap treats, not a square of chocolate on Sundays.
So we tried the best we could, but there is only so much we can do. As i said above, its very boring.

Rubbish. 30 years ago you could buy a huge selection of chocolate bars easily and they were eaten frequently. As a teen in college at the time we all used to buy a kit kat or something with our lunch.

pontivex · 05/10/2025 02:47

northernstars · 04/10/2025 23:18

Not read the thread yet but I am travelling in Australia and New Zealand and can report the Ribena is exactly how it used to taste in the UK. Proper fruity.

You might want to try Whittakers chocolate. NZ staple like Cadbury and bloody delicious! Not a bit of palm oil in sight.

HeartandSeoul · 05/10/2025 00:32

TheExcitersblowingupmymind · 04/10/2025 20:42

There was something very comforting about a cup of hot Ribena as a kid when you were ill and it wasn't bought very often same as a big bottle of lucozade with the wrapping on the bottle.
70s kid memories.

My Mum has been quite unwell recently, and is currently staying with us as she recuperates from a few weeks in hospital.

Unfortunately, she picked up a cold in her first week with us. One of her favourite drinks to have is/was hot Ribena. We have talked about the fact it is ‘a hug in a mug’, and it works wonders at giving you a little ‘pick up’ when you are under the weather 😊.

Maddy70 · 05/10/2025 00:25

Cadburys everything. It's gross now

joanofaardvark · 05/10/2025 00:02

MattDillonsEyebrows · 04/10/2025 23:52

what annoys me though is that the big companies have decided for us that we only want cheap products.

I would love to see them bring back the old style products, even at the price they would be today to run side by side the cheap ones and see which ones people pick.

I know I would much rather have occasional lovely expensive chocolate than regular nasty cheap stuff that we have today and I don’t think I’m the only one.

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Exactly this. I'd pay considerably more for authentic original Dairy Milk. I don't even eat Cadbury's chocolate anymore. It's just not a pleasant experience.

MattDillonsEyebrows · 04/10/2025 23:52

ThisAmberOrca · 04/10/2025 23:07

@MattDillonsEyebrows good chocolate is available, but not for £1.50 per bar. Crap in, crap out.
chocolate 30 years ago was a rare treat, not something people eat in massive amounts.
in terms of reformulation- its a case of doing the best we can under the conditions in market. sweeteners have off tastes, but no/less calories. regulatory frameworks require less sugar/salt/fat.
People want to have loads of cheap treats, not a square of chocolate on Sundays.
So we tried the best we could, but there is only so much we can do. As i said above, its very boring.

what annoys me though is that the big companies have decided for us that we only want cheap products.

I would love to see them bring back the old style products, even at the price they would be today to run side by side the cheap ones and see which ones people pick.

I know I would much rather have occasional lovely expensive chocolate than regular nasty cheap stuff that we have today and I don’t think I’m the only one.

AllTheChaos · 04/10/2025 23:49

Marmite. I panic bought during the pandemic (I know, I know, but I refused to risk running out!) and a year later when I finally got through the massive amount of jars I had bought at the start of the chaos,
I noticed that the new stuff was paler,
more brown than black, and thinner and weaker tasting too. Gutted does not begin to describe it. I’m just hoping they bring out an ‘original’ version soon!

eatreadsleeprepeat · 04/10/2025 23:48

San pelegrino, fizzy fruit drinks since they put is sweeteners. M&S prawn shells.

BooneyBeautiful · 04/10/2025 23:39

BuffetTheDietSlayer · 04/10/2025 20:35

Cadbury dairy milk. No other chocolate tastes as Cadbury’s used to, I loved it.

I actually feel quite sad that the younger people won’t ever get to taste it’s deliciousness.

I have a friend in the States who still loves our Cadbury chocolate. I am about to send some over to her. Quite strange really as they are now owned by Mondelez International who have their headquarters in Chicago......

Notfeelinit · 04/10/2025 23:38

northernstars · 04/10/2025 23:18

Not read the thread yet but I am travelling in Australia and New Zealand and can report the Ribena is exactly how it used to taste in the UK. Proper fruity.

Bring some back for us!!

DiscoBeat · 04/10/2025 23:35

Stupid digital buttons on washing machines and tumble driers. I have to stab away at them until I almost lose the will to live before they respond. What's wrong with actual buttons that you push? Or dials that you turn?

Mademetoxic · 04/10/2025 23:34

Judellie · 04/10/2025 22:21

Smarties are revolting now.
Re Cadbury, somebody told me that the freddo frogs are still made in Ireland and they still taste good, like original Cadburys

Plus still has palm oil in which ruins the taste.

ToffeePennie · 04/10/2025 23:33

So I can’t drink anything fizzy apart from full fat coke now, because the artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame) give me migraines that will literally make me throw up.
I hate the new “honey puffs” they’re vile (bought as a weekend treat for the kids, thought I’d have some for supper…blergh)
Walkers crisps flavours used to be super strong, now they’re like pale imitations of themselves!
Capri sun no longer takes of orange and pineapple juice, now it’s more like a very very weak squash.

GuffyTheDustBuster · 04/10/2025 23:32

Krackawheat. Our go to cracker has morphed into tasteless cardboard.
I just buy own brand normal crackers now. Sigh

DiscoBeat · 04/10/2025 23:31

TimetoGetUpNow · 04/10/2025 20:29

Twiglets.

Yes they taste so odd now, I used to love them!

MrsAvocet · 04/10/2025 23:30

I used to love the pots of plain Skyr with a separate layer of fruit, particularly the cherry one. Then one day I bought one and instead of the separate layers it was a pot of homogenous purple stuff. Nowhere near as nice so I soon gave up buying it.

therewasafishinthepercolator · 04/10/2025 23:29

Coco Pops.

I used to take my time so they went soggy. Don't judge me! But nowadays they don't seem to go completely soggy. There's always a bit of 'bite'.

Parentsinlaw · 04/10/2025 23:26

Has all this anything to do with brexit?

ThisAmberOrca · 04/10/2025 23:26

@catsmother cost is the issue. cocoa is expensive, so is vanilla. margins in food are tiny, hygiene requirements extremely expensive.
Chocolate 40 years ago was a treat - consumed by the square, not by the bar.
I don’t know the exact prices, but today’s Cadburys (for example) is relatively much, much cheaper than it was 40 years ago.

Carandache18 · 04/10/2025 23:24

Pears soap used to smell so spicy and amber-ish and herbs like rosemary and now it is just a chemical glue.
Cadbury's choc pre. palm oil.
Walnut whips pre palm oil, and when they had a walnut inside.
And where is Delrosa rosehip syrup anymore?