Woman notices something off about Mt. Olive pickles. Then she finds a smoking gun on the label: ‘Corporations trying to save costs but making everything taste worse’

Many manufacturers have their products down to a science: Exact measurements and scrutinized expectations make run-of-the-mill items on the grocery list consistent. But incremental change can lead to a world of difference. Or at least, that's what one woman, who opened a new jar of Mt. Olive pickles, experienced. 

Sarah (@sarahdonically) told her audience that she noticed something was different with a Mt. Olive pickle jar she opened and tried. So, she took a quick look at the label and compared it to an old jar. That's how she realized the company changed something that was noticeable enough for her to feel and taste a difference. 

As of this writing, her post has more than 556,000 views. 

The pickle problem

In her video, Sarah explained that she is autistic. Many autistic individuals have safe foods, which are foods they can eat without feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious. For some, it's hard to find safe foods that remain consistent over time. 

“I like Mount Olive pickles. They are my safe pickles,” she said. “ Recently, something has changed, and I don't know what.”

She told her audience that she kept other, older pickle jars from before the change. She decided to do a comparison between her old jars' ingredients list and her freshly purchased ones. 

She read the ingredients list from the old pickles. “ Its ingredients are cucumbers, water, vinegar, sea salt, calcium chloride, which is a firming agent, sodium benzoate, which is a preservative, natural flavors, polysorbate 80, and turmeric for color,” she said. 

Then she compared that to the ingredients list for the new pickles. Everything was the same until she ran into one key addition. “ Potassium metabisulfite. That is not in the old one. It's a different preservative. The other one had sodium benzoate, and this one has potassium metabisulfite,” she said. 

Notably, the new jar had sodium benzoate and potassium metabisulfite, rather than just having one preservative. Sarah also said the new jars were missing yellow dye and  polysorbate 80.

@sarahdonically Using old Mt. Olive pickles jars to see why their pickles are bad recently. Video Visual Discription: The head of Sarahdonically lays by 8 jars of Mt. Olive pickles of different sizes, 6 are empty, 2 full. Close up shots of pickle jars as Sarahdonically reads the ingredients. Then the head of Sarahdonically trys to eat a pickle and struggles to eat even one bite. Sarahdonically then addresses camera to ask Mt. Olive to change things back. #mtolive #mtolivepickles #pickles #safefood #actuallyautistic ♬ original sound – Sarahdonically

A taste test

Sarah decided to try the new jar of pickles to tell her audience the difference. 

“ Okay. Mount Olive pickles. This is the one with the potassium preservative,” she said, while getting a pickle out of the jar. When she grabbed one, she immediately pointed out how “bendy” it was. “Look at how bendy [it is]. Hold on,” she said, while bending other pickles she picked up.

Then she tried the new pickle. From the get-go, it was obvious she didn't like it. “ I can swallow this bite, but that's it,” she said. “ Why? Why do you do this? My pickles … Please, I understand that you want more natural dyes and different, more natural preservatives, but you are losing your core customers.”

What's the difference?

It's possible that the decision to add potassium metabisulfite or the decision to remove yellow dye and polysorbate 80 may have affected newer Mt. Olive pickles. But flavor and texture differences could occur for several other reasons. 

When preserved, cucumbers are affected by thermal processing, calcium chloride, and storage time. Over time, different variations in the chemical makeup of a pickle jar can either retain overall firmness or make the pickles softer.

Either way, commenters addressed their concerns with Mt. Olive.

“I contacted them … Us autistic safe-food girlies gotta stick together,” one viewer said. 

Another commenter said, “The crisp was one of [the] biggest reasons they were the perfect pickle!”

Buzz News reached out to Sarah via TikTok direct message and Mt. Olive via contact form for comment.