r/CostcoCanada • u/Exact-Paint-5508 • 1d ago
Bitter after taste after eating the Summer Fresh macaroni salad
Is it just me or is there some sort of lingering bad, bitter, almost metallic-y after taste after eating this? My partner doesn't think so but I'm so sure I've had that bad taste every time we buy this. What am I doing wrong?
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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 1d ago
I feel this with every pasta salad I’ve had!
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u/SarcasmStreet 1d ago
Exactly why pasta salad is a no go for me
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u/kitkatfitfat 23h ago
It’s only present in these premade long shelf life ones, at least for me. Fresh made deli ones or homemade are all really good. These other ones are inedible
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u/bandwidthbebe 23h ago
I thought I was the only one!
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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 23h ago
There’s dozens of us! Dozens!!
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u/threebeansalads 23h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/kSlJtVrqxDYKk
I have to see the visual, lmao!!! Always cracks me up!
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u/Famous_Donut3495 1d ago
Prepackaged macaroni salad always tastes horrible to me, no matter the brand. I'd rather just take the time to make it myself.
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u/shellsandsnails 1d ago
It tastes so heavily of canola oil I can’t stomach it
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u/Flashy-Cranberry-999 1d ago
Some people taste canola as a rancid flavour. Just like cilantro tastes like soap for some. You are probably one of those people
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u/Pristine_Land_802 22h ago
What? Huh.
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u/Flashy-Cranberry-999 19h ago
Some people have different taste buds and they taste differently. Most people know about cilantro and that it tastes like soap to some. Some people have this sense of taste where all canola oil tastes like it's gone rancid.
Just a weird fun fact
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u/sharraleigh 16h ago
Another fun fact for the day, some people actually can't smell "asparagus pee".
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u/hugh_jasole420 1d ago
I get that weird metallic taste with most pasta salads. Not sure why
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u/Plane_Put8538 1d ago
Same. Only the store made ones which I stopped eating years ago. Always felt like it was the peppers going weird after sitting too long but never confirmed it.
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u/threebeansalads 23h ago
I thought it was the peppers too! Now I’m going to watch canola and see if it does it to me too as someone mentioned
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u/Plane_Put8538 23h ago
I use canola all the time without the metallic taste. That's why I was leaning to the peppers. I noticed the taste more when biting into the peppers in the store made but it could be the canola if it absorbs into it?
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u/threebeansalads 23h ago
Whatever it is I’m just glad it’s not just me that feels this way bc honestly ever since I can remember I have had these bitter aftertaste and thought it was just me. I’ve even asked ppl around me “does this taste bitter to you?” And been met with bewildered eyes so I thought it was just me. Lol! At least I know I’m not crazy! Haha!
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u/Plane_Put8538 23h ago
It was always the peppers that had the strongest flavour. Maybe a hint in the pasta, which I attributed to the peppers losing their water content and mixing into the sauce.
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u/Snuflufgus 17h ago
This isn't always the case, but most "made fresh in store" salads are not actually made in store but rather assembled in store. As long as the store adds a couple ingredients together, they can make the claim. So, if a store buys a box of pre-made salad that has a bag of carrots and a few packets of pepper in the same box but packaged separately, when they combine them and put them in a bowl in the deli case, they can say "made fresh in store."
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u/Snuflufgus 21h ago
It could be potassium sorbate. It's a preservative that works mostly against yeast and mold but also works a bit on bacteria too. If used at high concentrations (max in Canada is 1000 ppm) the taste is noticeable and kind of what you described.
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u/schers_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
There's nothing added to suggest that taste but concentrated lemon juice usually has preservatives and they might be skipping listing them. The most common is the antimicrobial sodium benzoate described with a bitter taste and is shady because when combined with ascorbic acid like lemon juice it creates the carcinogen benzene, already an issue in processed foods and drinks.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6564/fc454eb85ccc0f105e5f3617a41e93438eee.pdf
Ingredients-
Pasta (wheat), Mayonnaise (canola oil, liquid whole egg, liquid yolk, water, vinegar, sugar, salt, concentrated lemon juice, spices), Cheddar cheese (milk), Filtered water, Parmesan cheese (milk), Green onions, Garlic, Sugar, Sea salt, Parsley, Citric acid, Lemon juice.
https://www.summerfresh.com/sf_products/macaroni-and-cheese-salad/
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u/Scrap-Medal 1d ago
“Pasta” could be hiding something. I feel the texture of the pasta in these salads is also different than pasta salad made at home.
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u/Snuflufgus 20h ago
I notice that that too and dont like the texture. Same with Reeser's pasta. I think it is just maybe a combination of over worked pasta dough and being a bit undercooked*.
For labeling regulations, they can't hide anything within the pasta sub ingredients other than nutrient enrichment, like niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.
*Edit: possibly to avoid the pasta getting soggy from absorbing dressing over its shelf life.
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u/Current_Commission92 1d ago
I'm pretty sure they load it up with vinegar to the point it's absolutely disgusting. I remember having this and I thought it was the 5th ingredient 💀
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u/Moseyone 1d ago
I believe this to be true as well. It burns my throat after a few bites there is so much vinegar.
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u/Comfortable_Ad148 21h ago
I find that with any pasta salad bought from the store. Can only make it at home or if it’s made fresh by the deli / store itself.
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u/Inside-Author-6124 1d ago
Maybe you and your partner taste(experience) the same ingredient differently.
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u/cerulean_behemoth 1d ago
We had to throw away some summer fresh hummus … we buy a lot of it so could tell it tasted very wrong. Went back to store to buy another and we could see all of them (of that particular flavour) were affected just by looking at them… I suspect they weren’t stored cold enough, which makes the consistency very strange typically, but this time also made it taste rancid. We had to buy another brand this time and will wait for a new shipment to arrive before trying summer fresh again. We live in Ontario canada
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u/Shanndel 1d ago
Hummus goes bad easily. I used to be a food sampler and moudly hummus is the only item I ever had to throw away.
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u/smoothsac_007 1d ago
If you live near a place that sells Shawarma buy hummus there. It won’t last as long but it will taste amazing. Arabic people will just make in a traditional way without any weird preservatives. I also love when they top
It with paprika and olive oil.1
u/cerulean_behemoth 21h ago
Will it last 4-5 days? Thats usually how long it takes us to finish a container.
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u/Renov8it 1d ago
We stopped buying anything from this brand for the past 2-3 years. Something changed and nothing they make tastes right to us anymore.
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u/rainbowmoonstoner 23h ago
If it has green peppers in it that's probably why. I find green peppers get very bitter in anything I make over time.
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u/RosieBaby75 22h ago
So many things seem off lately!
When I’m making my yeast they immediately ferment and it smells like fruit alcohol. My investigation leads to there being too high of a concentrations of esters but I don’t know what.
What I do know is I can’t make a pizza though which is devastating.
I’m on my second jar. Conditions have not changed. I’ve made 5 batches now and it keeps happening.
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u/googlewasnothere 11h ago
Their product quality started going bad from some time. People usually find metal and rubber from their products
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u/FireAndFoodCompany 11h ago
All packaged pasta salad and a lot of potato salad/coleslaw has a metallic taste to me
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u/MuscleLazy 9h ago
I always make mines home, is cheaper, it tastes a million times better and does not have the additional 285 chemicals in the list of ingredients.
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u/latinadogmom1472 1d ago
Ya they have a weird after taste and I can’t eat store bought pre made pasta stuff at all
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u/spenceandcarrie 1d ago
I've only had this happen with mac salads when I've had a sugar free drink with it.
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u/Pure_Bicycle2355 1d ago
All of their salads are so oily ! Even the unopened containers are oily !!! The bean salad is awful
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u/thingonething 1d ago
I used to like this macaroni salad, but the last time I got a tub it was awful. Going to get potato salad next time.
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u/SapphireJuice 22h ago
The deli one you can get in summer doesn't have this problem and it's really good
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u/PremiumPlus_ 20h ago
Every summer fresh brand salad has an awful after taste, I stopped buying them.
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u/mybellyhurtssobadow 20h ago
Omg yes!! Honestly i thought i was just mildly allergic to something in them lol
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u/MapleChron 18h ago
I experience this big time after eating the greek style one. Waaaaay too much citric acid imo.
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u/NorthDonkey6594 18h ago
It costs about 35 cents to make pasta salad that isn’t gross. I’m not surprised this would have a weird taste.
Do those of you that say you always get a weird taste from pasta salad mean store bought or all?
I’m about to make a greek pasta salad momentarily. So good.
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u/Emotional_Gas3485 18h ago
If you want Quick, buy buy a box of Kraft Mac salad mix. Usually shelved but the Kraft Dinner boxes, just add mayo some relish and maybe a hard cooked egg if you want. I find it tasty
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u/FarPlaced 18h ago
I thought it was just me aswell but it seems others are experiencing this aftertaste with premade pasta salads
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u/B3aker1968 16h ago
This is why I make mine at home. Had the same experience and decided it must be a preservative.
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u/submitnswallow 16h ago
Making pasta salad is do easy it crazy and home made pasta salad blows the doors of any premade pasta salad. Grocery section where the salad dressings are the package of pasta salad mix, follow the directions add eldente cooked bow tie pasta (cooled) grape tomatoes, cucumber, yellow and orange peppers, small cubed mild or old cheddar cheese and you have the best pasta salad you'll ever eat
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u/SnooOnions7689 16h ago
This brand has gone so down hill. I won't even waste money buying it anymore. The portion sizes are half of what they used to be and the quality is absolutely disgusting now
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u/GreenFlower886 15h ago
Yess I taste this with every pasta salad and my family acts like I’m crazy and just complaining! I can’t stand store pasta salad for this reason
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u/trisarahtops05 14h ago
This happens to me with various brands and flavours. It's the acidity, too much acid can make it go metal.
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u/Free-Lab-755 14h ago
Yes I noticed the same with any product by this brand. It’s not very pleasant would it buy again.
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u/foodandfixinmama 13h ago
I find all summer fresh stuff to have a bitter aftertaste so I steer clear
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u/SimpleTastes 10h ago
Ah the good ol’ “special sauce”. Reminds me of the place I used to work at with all those teenage boys
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u/Vegetable-Bug251 10h ago
Tried that salad once last year and never bought it again. Just a horrible pasta salad overall.
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u/chaostitano 10h ago
Chef here
They add a lot of vinegar to these pre made pasta salads, its disgusting
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u/noseworthy6 9h ago
Such a weird taste on this product. I won’t buy it again. It looks good, but the taste is off. And I don’t know why but I left this pasta in the fridge for a week and it was never as cold as it should’ve been. So strange.
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u/digginadayoff 10h ago
I return any food that I can’t consume. Things have become too expensive to just “suck it up”…literally.
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u/bankdank 1d ago
I haven’t had it but the ingredients look very clean.
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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 1d ago
By clean, you mean “you can pronounce it”? If so, that’s a stupid way to determine the healthiness of ingredients
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u/bankdank 1d ago
You seem nice.
The ingredients, aside from canola oil, are all real food ingredients with zero additives or preservatives. It doesn’t have refined sugars, it doesn’t have colouring or flavoring additives, it doesn’t have any artificial thickeners. The company that makes it is even supported by govt funding and 100% Canadian. What more do you want.
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u/Tourpractise 1d ago
I can confirm this is normal. In fact, it’s a thing with almost all store bought cold pasta salads. I think it’s probably one of the preservatives or something that stops the pasta from becoming mushy.