Food - News
Scathing Reviews Force Smart Balance To Bring Back Its Original Flavor
By DAVE MALYON
Smart Balance recently made a change to its buttery spread that significantly affected its flavor and texture — causing a massive uproar among its consumers. Smart Balance apparently cut the vegetable fat in its spread from 64% to 39%, making water the number-one ingredient in the product.
Customers rebuked the change with comments, like "The taste sucks," "Disgusting new formula," and "Ruined a good thing," on the product’s review page on the Smart Balance website, where it has a 1.2-star rating. One respondent elaborated — "The taste and texture are completely different and not for the better."
Edgar Dworsky from Mouse Print believes the change was a result of "skimpflation" — a shrinkflation-like practice where companies use lower quality products to cut costs. Smart Balance, however, responded to the dissent with a “[decision] to return to the previous recipes in the coming months," but will it be at the same price?