Whats On Your Sandwich ? - © cdn.sheknows.com

More Sneaky Product Downsizing Tricks…

We’ve periodically informed you of the ways manufacturers reduce the size of their products but leave the packaging the same to fool you into thinking you’re still getting the same amount of product for the same price. Well, the Jams and Jellies sector has launched new dirty little scam…

Real Strawberry Jam - © Deb Lindsey for The Washington PostThis is what real Strawberry Jam should look like, in my book…

Remember those cute commercials for a certain brand of Preserves that has, for decades, positioned itself at the top of the marketplace and the price table as a premium name? How cute, when those little boys are trying to figure out how ‘Dad’ gets 24 Strawberries into every jar of Jam…

Well, it appears to me that ‘Dad’ isn’t putting that many Berries in each jar, anymore. You still get the same size of jar, with the same volume of Jam. But the Jam, itself, is severely impoverished,  actual-berry-wise. The brand that for ages advertised itself as the richest spread has apparently been diluting itself with clear syrup and piling on the Pectin to make a spread that is more Jelly than Jam. The flavour, which used to be very Berry-y, is now mostly sugary and diluted. The spread, overall, is almost transparent; largely devoid of identifiable ‘Berry Matter’, and the consistency of firm Jello. This, friends, is not ‘Jam’ as I’ve known it; certainly not this brand as I once knew it.

I’m sticking with the House Brand

I only bought the expensive Brand this week because my go-to supermarket was temporarily out of its own house brand, which advertises itself as ‘Twice the Fruit’. This stuff is the store’s own premium brand and is about the richest Jam I’ve ever had. It’s thick with real Berry Matter top to bottom and the liquid, such small amount as there is, is runny, not pumped with Pectin like the other brand.

And here’s the kicker, folks: The really-luscious House Brand costs exactly the same as the Major Brand which has gone all-to-Hell! Next time, I’ll do without Jam for a few days rather than patronize the dirty-trickster Major Brand!

~ Maggie J.