What food did you have as a child that really just doesn't taste the same anymore??

[serendippity]

I used to love breakfast muffins, brown bread and butter and an amazing shop bought cottage pie in a round foil tin which was super buttery and tasty. Also mcdonalds chicken nuggets. None of the above tastes anything like I remember, no matter where I buy it from or how much I spend on it! Is there anything you used to have that you still think about that you can't find? Or thought you'd lost forever that you have managed to track down??

Mince on toast!

Yes this and the bag of oats used to smell milky. I have tried every brand, own brand, rolled, the longer-cooking ones, and can't find whatever variety they used to grow.
Digestive biscuits - I have a good recipe.
Ribena - Rocks blackcurrant is nearly it.
Chocolate - literally making my own out of cocoa and ghee but now where has all the cocoa gone?

OMG! yes, they don't have that special new potato flavour anymore, and the texture is different. I'm sure they were firmer, and not so scabby. The ones I grow in buckets are nicer than them.

@ThunderFog Yes! Digestives have gone right off, again missing a bit of salt??

Are you sure it was oats, I know that sounds daft, but my Mum worked in a health food shop when I was wee and she used to come home with golden wheat porridge which she'd cook with brown sugar on top. It was gorgeous, no idea if it is a thing now. I did try buckwheat porridge once, I don't recommend.

Fanta. It’s changed a couple of times over the years but the most recent change has made it undrinkable. I went to Greece last year and the Fanta there was out of this world, and they sold still Fanta too which was gorgeous.

Fray bentos pies.. they used to be really meaty. Now its more gravy than anything....sigh

Yes oats. The farmers have been growing different varieties, because of changes to the weather and iiuc there's a big demand so oats are being sown on land that didn't used to be used, and is more susceptible to flooding.

The sugar tax has ruined Limonata for me.
It’s undrinkable now, and not even in a way that i’d learn to like it again.
That aftertaste! 😫

I couldn’t even finish the can, so I tipped it down the bloody sink.

It’s the fertiliser i think.

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/about-ibers/impactcasestories/improved-oat-varieties/

In true Mumsnet style, a reference for the porridge doesn't taste the same.

Lemonade - 7 Up and Sprite especially. Both are disgusting.

Bacon just doesn't seem to be the same either..

Agreed its the sweetners
I was drunking what i thought was a bottle of fanta zero and really enjoyed it then i realised it was the full sugar one.

I used to love vodka and lemonade, it's not the same. Same with Bacardi and coke. All sweeteners are the pits.

Have you tried a halal chicken? I think they are kosher.

Apples. I was obsessed with apples as a child. I could live on them. That sharp tang and perfumed flavour followed by a bit of sweetness. Now they are all fibrous sugar water or cotton wool soggy sugar water. Disgusting fruit. Even the traditional ones like Discovery and Russets. I'd love to know where to get hold of freshly picked tangy apples that are not too sweet.

Could also be the milk. Back in the day (I'm ancient) my mum used to make porridge, but our milk then had cream that settled out on the top, not homogenized like it is now. Maybe try with raw milk from a farm or some of the non-homgenized gold top milk?

The formulations have probably changed.
Your perception of food has changed. Your tastebuds are different and you have more experience of different foods so your palate has probably changed.

Prawn cocktail made with tinned prawns followed by original strawberry Angel Delight / pineapple and cheese on cocktail sticks was Food of the Gods for me in the late ‘70s. Nowadays not so much. I’d still eat it though.

Baileys ALWAYS needs an extra shot of whisky/whiskey/blended scotch to give it some oomph, IME.
It’s disappointing but try adding something alcoholic, as above, next time.
But I think if you add extra cream too you might need to add extra sugar as well …. could get tricky if you go along that road.
OTOH I think there are taste-alike recipes around which involve taking a bottle of ordinary whisky and adding your own sugar, cream etc etc. It won’t keep well if you add cream so you’ll need to drink it up!

I buy Graham’s Family Dairy whole milk, they also make an unhomogenised one with the cream at the top of the milk.

Tomatoes, radish and cucumbers from supermarkets are tasteless. When I grow my own I am immediately reminded how they are meant to taste.

I bought a Finger of Fudge bar as a bit on nostalgia. It was horrible.

Ribena
Lucozade
Rice Crispies

I am amazed the manufacturers of these are still making them. I mean who buys Lucozade and actually likes it?

Jersey Royal potatoes had a really earthy taste not the same now.

Yes to Jersey Royals and Peaches.

I know a lot of things are due to recipes changing but I remember hearing someone on the radio saying for some scientific reason I forget now there is a peak in taste when your younger and nothing will ever taste as good from that point.

Cornflakes
any chocolate :(