A few days ago, I went to the supermarket. I bought all the usual items: lots of pasta, lots of tomato sauce, bananas, orange juice, milk, spinach and our usual tortilla chips, peanuts and popcorn snack items. We always buy Smartfood brand White Cheddar popcorn, and the bag has always looked like the one on the left of the picture below:
I couldn’t find the usual bag anywhere. All I could find was the bag on the right of the picture above. I made a classic mistake: I assumed that the two bags of popcorn were the same, and that the Smartfood company had decided to change the design of the bag. I assumed. That was my mistake. I didn’t check the ingredients label on the back to ensure that the two bags of popcorn were indeed the same.
Sure enough, when I got home, I began to eat the Smartfood in the white bag. It tasted weird. My heart sank. My suspicions were confirmed when I read the ingredients on the back.
OH NO! Maltodextrin?! Dextrose?! WHY didn’t I read the ingredients label while I was still in the supermarket? Okay, okay. I know this is not the worst thing in the world, although the experience contained a very useful lesson that I will never forget.
If something seems weird, make sure to investigate. Ask questions, read labels. Don’t buy a product until you are sure that it is the item you want.
I threw the wrong popcorn in the trash, and went to 7-Eleven to buy the right kind of Smartfood popcorn. You can clearly see the difference in the ingredients:
The moral of this story? NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING, listen to your inner wisdom, and when it comes to food, check the nutrition and ingredients labels!
OspreyWing 