Anyone notice food quality declining really badly?

[heartbroken22]

Just had a block of cheese go off that would have normally lasted a lot longer. Didn't do anything different. But might have to change supermarkets now.

@Bovrilla I hope yours is good. We bought a big watermelon from there a few weeks ago 5 quid and ended up throwing 80% away as it was off!

@CaramelicedLatte apart from nappies and a few other things I've gone off Aldi. The quality has become really poor. It's sad but I have to do my main shop elsewhere. I'm wondering if lidl is any better. But judging by the comments the fruit and veg go off quickly!

I can only vouch for Spain and France which I move between.

Fruit and veg quality is as good as ever

@MonumentalLentil what other carbs have you replaced for bread? I know what you mean I can't have more than one slice due to bloating etc.

@MonumentalLentil forgot to add I have to buy bread that costs more than a pound for it to last 1.5 weeks otherwise the cheaper stuff lasts a lot less....mouldy after a few days...

Everywhere has really poor expiry dates now. I went shopping 2 days ago and the salad/tomatoes etc is turning, bananas going brown and the longest dates on bread I could get was 2 days 😔

Everything that can be frozen is done on day of purchase now 😔

Stopped shopping at Tesco because of it, now Aldi is the same.

@Crumpleton yeah I get you if it's not quality then it's price. We have to do smaller shops throughout the week just so that there less food waste because food items aren't lasting as much as they did before. Bought cheese and really wary that I need to use it up within the next week for fear of it going off.

@SallyWD I'm finding stuff tastes weird now too! Probably companies changing ingredients to save money!

Yes, I often find mouldy fruit in my packs.
I bought ready rolled puff pastry recently and it was such a weird texture and hard to work with.

Yes, I've noticed this too. I bought a frozen Dr Oatiker pizza last week. They used to be my 'treat' food. Delicious with far more flavour than any other brand. This latest one tasted of pretty much nothing.

Ahhh nooo don’t say that! It was hands down the best frozen pizza out there. Better than a lot of fresh supermarket ones too!

Sugar and salt have been the best preservatives since time immemorial.

Take them out/replace them with random flavourings and this is what you get.

Paper and card packaging absorbs moisture, making it harder for mould to grow. Switch to plastics for easier mass transportation and you get things sitting around turning blue.

It makes your food waste worse but it makes the supermarkets waste better and that’s all they care about
as usual the consumer doesn’t count

Not really sure what people expect when you buy by weight, rather than taste. Water is profitably conveniently heavy.

Example?

It's been an issue that's been steadily getting worse for years - Though I'd say I've always had this issue with Aldi fruit and veg.

We have a lot of frozen fruit and veg because of this.

We have a bread machine and get a huge bag of flour either direct from mills or from Amazon and now rarely buy bread.

It more galling I think because prices are so high - you think high prices should mean better quality and you can't as easily afford to replace the rotten food.

Tomatoes. Nothing I've tried buying from any supermarket for years comes even close to the home grown ones from my folks.

I thought it was just me that thought this so glad others feel the same. Lots of food just tastes bland.

I've decided to find a local farm shop and be a bit more targeted about what I buy, in the hope the quality will be better. Obviously this will be more expensive so I shall try and reduce what I buy but hopefully it will be better quality and tastier and we will ha e less waste.

Reg meat, I will only buy bacon and sausages from the butchers now as it tastes so much better than supermarket.

The last lot of ham I bought from morrisons was disgusting, it was like eating plastic. It was awful.

but home grown / home cooked is generally tastier

One balances it against convenience

and I really enjoy the Ocado cherry tomatoes I buy (£1.40 for 500g) and especially love the convenience!

I've also noticed where previously, I questioned if it was worthwhile making my own bread, cakes and biscuits considering cost, taste and effort, I now know it's worthwhile to make these things myself.
Not that I always do as it's hard to find the time, but at least I know it's better to make my own if I can.

Have to admit that home grown is way better than the quality from supermarkets. We grew potatoes in bags, tomatoes, spring onions and strawberries for an experiment and they lasted ages. We harvested our potatoes in the autumn and finished them in February this year none went soft or manky. We grew three different varieties of tomatoes including beef tomatoes and they were all good and the last few were easily added into stews and tomato based sauces. We don't have a huge garden and all of our experiments were in bags or pots so you don't need a lot of space. We do know now that we need to sow seeds over a few weeks to spread the harvesting time but it was fun to do and the flavours far out stripped purchases from the supermarkets.

To be honest, no I haven't noticed a deterioration in quality, only an increase in price

I barely eat bread though, very little processed food and mostly buy from Waitrose

For a treat, I bought some fancy smoked cheese from a local deli, where they buy from a small producer. We're finding that the flavour is so good and strong that you don't need much of it, meaning that it's going much further than supermarket cheese would have done. Maybe not as expensive after all.

Re growing your own, home grown French beans are amazing and have that delicious beaniness I love so much. Same with tomatoes and salad stuff. Oh, and tarragon, home grown tarragon is seriously intense.

I am on a low carb diet, although not as strict as I was. Nimble is a light bread with smaller slices and toasts really nicely but not in a toaster, I use the grill setting on our Heston mini oven, makes the best toast I have ever had. Since bread as gone downhill I find it much easier to not bother. I haven't managed to give up potatoes completely although wholemeal bread is a better option.

I check carbs on everything and choose as low as I can without feeling hungry. I feel much better without bread and potatoes though.