Colorado man multiple cases of Jarritos lime soda. Then he looks at a regular standalone bottle: ‘What’s going on?’

The internet loves to get worked up about food brands quietly tweaking their recipes. What is there to say? People get passionate about their grub. So when a longtime food fan spots something off with one of their favorite snacks or drinks, TikTok viewers are usually the first to know.

It's no surprise, then, that a Jarritos enthusiast is going viral for this exact reaction.

‘That looks watered-down'

Content creator Mikey (@mikestt1982) shared a video comparing fresh cases of Jarritos soda to separate bottles he picked up. His video has since accumulated more than 79,000 views.

Mikey's video began with him filming the open trunk of his car, absolutely stacked with multiple, large cases of brand-new Jarritos. Two standalone bottles of Jarritos, both noticeably more vividly colored than the rest, perched atop the cases.

“This is for Jarritos,” Mikey said. “What's going on in Southern Colorado? So that's the lime as it's supposed to be.”

Mikey picked up one of the two brighter bottles. Then he removed a noticeably pale, discolored bottle from his new packs.

“Here's my special order I just picked up from the store,” he said, comparing the two. “What is this?”

Mikey's viewers had theories in his comment section, with multiple commenters saying the new drinks “look watered-down.” 

“It tastes like [watered-down] grapefruit,” Mikey confirmed, replying to one of the commenters. He wrote to another, “The flavor is very wrong. Watery grapefruit maybe.”

One viewer even speculated Jarritos changed its recipe purely for aesthetics, but Mikey wasn't convinced.

“Jarritos is getting rid of the dye so lime is going to look more like limonada going forward,” the viewer commented. Mikey replied, “They forgot to put the lime flavor in too. It's a problem.” 

@mikestt1982 #jarritos #lime #problematthefactory ♬ original sound – Mikey

Has Jarritos actually changed its lime soda recipe?

Neither Jarritos nor its parent company, Novamex, has announced any reformulation of its drinks. The theory floated in Mikey's comments isn't completely random, however. It emerges in the midst of an industry-wide shift away from synthetic dyes.

The FDA announced earlier this year that it's working with food companies to phase out “artificial petroleum-based colors [in favor of] alternatives derived from natural sources.” Even before this news release, NBC News reported in 2025 that Walmart pledged to “eliminate synthetic dyes from all its private-label brand food products” by January 2027. The Associated Press also covered a similar 2025 transition away from synthetic dyes with regard to PepsiCo's Doritos and Cheetos.

A Walmart listing for glass-bottled Jarritos Lime lists FD&C Yellow No. 5 and Blue No. 1 among its ingredients. A separate Walmart listing for a 24-pack lists FD&C Yellow No. 6 and Blue No. 1 instead. These are all synthetic dyes, with no indication of a shift to natural ones.

Buzz News has reached out to Mikey via TikTok comment and Jarritos via contact form.