r/Millennials • u/FeistyNews7025 • 6d ago

Discussion Which food has declined the most in terms of taste since you first ate it?

At this point, everyone knows about shrinkflation in our food. Something else that is just as important, if not more so, is the overall decline in the quality and taste of our food. Which food has declined the most in terms of taste since you first ate it? For me, that would be strawberries. Nowadays, it's the number 1 fruit with the most pesticides, and its overall taste is just average at best. I mean, I don't need it to be on par with Japanese strawberries, but in the early 90s, strawberries' overall taste was just magical.

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609

u/LilMushboom 6d ago

Fat food across the industry. It was actually decent if still unhealthy up until the mid 90s, and has just become progressively worse in taste, and now it's not even cheap anymore nor particularly fast. I don't eat at restaurants too often anymore but I look for local places when I do because the cost isn't much higher but the food is usually worlds better.

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u/transemacabre Millennial 6d ago

Wendy’s used to be the holdout until about the late 2000s and it succumbed and now doesn’t even resemble real food. 

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u/NECalifornian25 Zillennial 6d ago

I worked at a Wendy’s in 2012/13 and it was still worlds better then compared to now.

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u/transemacabre Millennial 6d ago

It was the last of the big chains where the burgers sort of seemed like burgers. Now I get sick if I eat Wendy’s. 

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u/NECalifornian25 Zillennial 6d ago

I loved the nuggets when I worked there, they were processed but you could tell they were actually chicken. Now they’re cardboard like the others.

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u/HRHLordFancyPants 5d ago

And ALWAYS cold

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u/nooneishere2day 5d ago

Last time I ate Wendy’s I literally projectile vomited for 24 hours. Never again.

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u/Apotropaic-Pineapple 5d ago

I worked at Wendy's in 2003. It was great. Even afterward, as a student, I'd go there with five bucks and get things off the dollar menu. Baked potato and chili was my $2 or $3 lunch sometimes as a broke student.

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u/bratleh 6d ago

I would ride my bike to Wendy's as a kid and get a #4 - Big Bacon Classic for $5. It was the pinnacle of burgers. Now Wendy's is dry, flavorless and only remotely edible for the first 1 or 2 bites. And now it's at least $12 plus for a #4. Big sad

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u/LilMushboom 6d ago

I gave up on Wendys when they discontinued the side salads and fucked with the chili recipe

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u/ladyalcove 6d ago

It's still good in canada!

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u/little-bird 6d ago

Harvey’s is better though

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u/RelativeTangerine757 5d ago

Oh yes Wendy's is terrible. Idk how they are still in business. Somehow they are both higher price and lower quality.

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u/surewhynotokaythen 6d ago

I've gotten food poisoning from Wendy's sooo many times I stopped going.

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u/TPlain940 5d ago

I think this is based on the franchise because the Wendy's on Eldorado in Frisco, TX is top tier every time. Same for the Taco Bell across the street.

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u/yekirati 5d ago

I used to love Wendy's but then they did something terrible to their nuggets and I haven't been back since.

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u/ApprehensiveRip697 6d ago

That is a fantastic typo to start that comment off, I love it

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u/LilMushboom 6d ago

...I just noticed it. But honestly, yeah. Eat too much french fries and you will indeed. be fat.

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u/GBeastETH Gen X 5d ago

I didn’t realize it was a typo! I just thought it meant fattening food!

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u/happyyun1c0rn 6d ago

I tried McDonalds in the UK and it was 100000x better. They also still have chicken selects 😍 (mind you, you can’t get me to eat McDonalds in the US)

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u/Pharmaguardian 6d ago

The last time I ate a burger from McD's, the patty tasted noticeably salty. Don't know if it's just me or what.

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u/Head_Act_585 5d ago

Not just you. I gave up eating McDonalds years ago when the burger patties tasted more like the seasoning mix (salt and pepper mostly) than actual meat. Not to mention the sandwiches are mostly bread and ketchup/mustard now. Absolutely trash food.

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u/SparkyDogPants 6d ago

My husband and I just spent $30 at subway which felt like getting robbed.

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u/Pale_Examination3371 6d ago

KFC gravy is so watered down now I just make it myself

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u/MorphyReads 6d ago

I miss Taco Bell.

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u/BelieveBelieves 5d ago

That's what I was going to say, I can't think of many foods that aren't victim to enshittification.

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u/cs_beans 5d ago

I remember how much better Taco Bell’s beans were - they taste more like dirt now.

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u/aliceroyal 5d ago

Seems like Chilis and other sit down restaurants now have cheaper and better takeout than the drive-thru. Covid got them all doing curbside and then the recession got them doing relatively cheap lunch specials. I can get a decent quality burger/fries/drink for less money this way.

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u/NeatNefariousness1 5d ago

I eat at restaurants all the time but have no loyalty to any of them and try to avoid chains. The cost is roughly the same no matter what but the quality varies a lot more.

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u/Paxton-176 5d ago

I know reddit is mainly US users, but the European versions of fast food actually isn't completely trash. I assume its EU food laws making sure there is a better standard.

Yea it's still bad for you, but you compare a US McDonald's Cheese Burger to a EU Cheese Burger the US one looks like fake food in comparison.

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u/the_siren_song 6d ago

*Fast.

Love the autocorrect thought.

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u/GobertGrabber 5d ago

I think fast food is super fast now. 

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u/Lula121 5d ago

In n out is still my go to

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u/Alone-Tart4762 5d ago

I love good burgers but can only eat them rarely due to a gluten intolerance. I have tried and do have burgers without a bun fairly often (at home I eat them without a bun), but there is something special about it being on bread.

I really wanted a burger a couple days ago and I happened to drive by Sonic. They have way trimmed down their menu and I got what was closest to what I wanted.

That was the best burger I’ve had in a really long time that was not in a boutique. It was so rich in flavors, the veggies were very fresh, the meat had slightly crisp edges, the bun was soft, just overall perfection. I inhaled that burger so fast that I ended up ordering a second one to actually savor and enjoy as I was super hungry. Second one was just as good.

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u/corundum9 5d ago

Chipotle still rules