What was not at all obvious, until the first sip, was that they have completely changed the taste, so it was no longer the same product.
I speak of Sainsbury’s lemon & lime fizzy water, of which I am overfond.
The outward signifiers of change were there, but so subtle you wouldn’t take them in unless you made the kind of detailed forensic comparison on which I embarked after that first tasting surprise.
The old version was called “Spring water with a hint of …”, the new one “Flavoured spring water drink”.
That word 'drink', in marketing-speak, has acquired a cloak of deception in it meaning.
The front of each bottle proclaims “no added sugar”, but the words in the little green circle have changed from “Only natural flavours” to “Improved recipe”.
The secret is in the ingredients.
Carbonated spring water – check.
Lemon juice from concentrate (1.6%) – not in the new one.
Nor is there any lime juice from concentrate (quantity unspecified).
Instead there is – wait for it – apple juice from concentrate, (though only 0.3%).
The older version contained further ‘natural’ (though unspecified) flavourings, the improved recipe mere 'flavourings' which are adjectivally unembellished.
Both contain potassium sorbate as a preservative & sucrose as a sweetener.
The taste of citric acid, present in both, dominates the new version in a way which is far from pleasing to the palate, but was successfully masked by the natural juices in the old kind.
The panel of nutritional information shows that the amount of protein in the drink has gone up from a mere trace to 0.1g per 100ml, as has (perplexingly) the amount of fat, while sugar ('naturally occurring') has gone up to 0.2%.
There is going to have to be more intensive label reading as I search for a new source of supply.
I may even spend some time in Sainsbury's, finding out if elderflower & all the other 'flavoured spring water drinks' are made with apple juce too.
Links
Related post
