Audio By Carbonatix
“They changed Pringles,” one customer boldly declares in a viral TikTok. Does his claim have merit?
Searles Station (@searlesstation) says in the 38-second video, “I haven’t really had Pringles for a long time, but we got some of these cans, and this is completely different. Does everybody know about this?”
He says the new Pringles are not “normal,” citing “bumps” and claiming old Pringles were smooth and “grainy.”
“Even when you eat it, it’s completely different,” he says. “This is not a Pringle. I don’t know what this is, but this is not Pringles. Can somebody help me understand what’s going on here?”
Why Do Customers Think Pringles Are Different?
In the comments section, viewers overwhelmingly agreed that something had changed about the beloved snack.
“New pringles remind me of instant mashed potato powder formed into a pringle shape,” one said.
A second wrote, “I remember them being more crispy and saltier and potatoey. Now they taste like pressed cardboard mash with a hint of a whisper of salt.”
“You all are complaining instead of being happy about how much more money the shareholders are getting with this new recipe,” a third joked.
One commenter suggested looking into a creator who investigates foods for recipe changes. “Check out The Food Hacker,” they wrote. “She covers what happened to so many of the foods we used to love and how all of the ingredients have changed.”
What Does The Food Hacker Have To Say About Pringles?
“The current state of Pringles are in shambles,” The Food Hacker (@o_g_deez) begins in a May viral video.
She says Pringles has been on a constant decline before going through some of the snack’s changes. First, she says Pringles used to be gluten-free, but they now contain wheat. She says post-COVID Pringles now have cornstarch for all flavors. The Sour Cream & Onion flavor now contains less coconut oil and buttermilk and no longer contains sweet cream. She says basically all of the dairy ingredients have been reduced in quantity.
She backs up her findings with screenshots of the ingredient labels.
She says a better alternative to Pringles is Lay’s Stax.
What Does Pringles Have To Say?
Responding to a 2023 X post in which a customer questioned whether the Pringles recipe changed, Pringles wrote, “Hi Johnny – The recipe has not changed for our Original flavor. DM us with details, and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Importantly, this was almost two years before The Food Hacker made her video, so the ingredients might have changed since then.
@searlesstation Something is different about #pringles #pringlescanhands #food #chips #snacks #lunch
BroBible contacted Station via TikTok comment and direct message. BroBible also contacted Pringles’ parent company, Kellanova, via press email.