Well some level of insects is allowed in our food. I believe a jar of peanut butter is allowed 128 pieces of insect (did not google to confirm what I had read ages ago). And, my kid, when she first came to this country would catch bugs expecting me to put them in dinner. That would include coming into the house holding a wasp by itās wings. Of course she also told me, when I asked if she wanted tarantella for dinner after she told me how to cook it, āSpider no good mom. In this country we have chicken.ā.
@Kidsandliz Yeah, Iāve seen news reports saying theyāre doing all kinds of research in what level of insect consumption Western cultures will tolerate (turning them into flour, blending them into other foods so theyāre not recognizable, etc), and Iām ok with tiny fragments & stuff, i just take notice when it gets to the level of a recall! Funny you mention peanut butter, cuz this article says itās one of the least adulterated foods available, but some of the other stuff (including the jelly on a PB & J) is a little moreā¦ugh. Although, i guess itās still better than having something fly into your mouth when youāre outside, minding your own business!
@ircon96@Kidsandliz Anyone who has ever harvested their own non-sprayed raspberries, blackberries or mulberries for consumption or cooking either is fully familiar with how many damn bugs are in them, or has seriously failed to pay attention to what they were handling.
@ircon96 yup thatās more like it. This ad seems a bit different because it says āsweet Pebblesā because it seems it was covering both Cocoa and Fruity. The one I have in my head was definitely āFruity Pebbles in your mouthā ā it just flows better too. The āsweetā seems like an unfortunate compromise.
EDIT also the āsweetā is funny because in those days, it was still the more sugar the better (at least it was actually sugar and not HFCS then). And ads were not shy about saying how sweet their cereal was.
@ircon96@pmarin I still call Super Golden Crisp cereal Super Sugar Crisp; the new name just sounds wrong, and old habits die hard. Honey Smacks used to be called Sugar Smacks back then, too. Nothing like truth in advertising, huh?
Yeah just saw on news about one of the recalls. But the truth is (as was mentioned in one of the linked articles) is that TJs does these even though there is no government mandate to do it, so if anything yes they āerr on the side of cautionā probably a lot more than a major chain like the Kroger-branded stores would do. TJs is still small enough to be able to handle their supply chain better because it is smaller and simpler than the mega-conglomerates with ties to the big-food industry.
I still like my TJs but they have changed a lot from what I remember as a discount store in California, which often had mostly ācut-outsā and discontinued items at good prices ā similar to what Grocery Outlet (Western US) does now. Now almost everything in TJs is custom-packaged for them. Similar to ALDI (Eastern US) which started as a discount/cut-out store and now has many products produced and labeled for them.
@pmarin I know theyāre pretty conscientious overall, i was just surprised by hearing about several in one week, that seemed a little more than they usually deal with.
@pmarin@tinamarie1974 Not exactly. In Germany, where Aldi originated, one is Aldi Sud and the other is Aldi Nord, and my understanding is that there was a split in the family that originated the stores. They are definitely separately operated entities here, with quite a few differences in presentation and obvious philosophy. Our version of Aldi strictly goes for value, while Trader Joeās has a tendency to focus more on quirkiness and quality.
@pmarin@werehatrack yes there is a seperate Nord and Sud division, but TJās is still one of the Aldi businesses. No banana but a visual org chart for explanation
@pmarin@tinamarie1974 Pay close attention to where it says two separate but closely cooperating companies up there under the first icon. Think of it as being similar to the relationship between Buick and Chevrolet, and then think of Trader Joeās as being like the now shuttered Holden brand in Australia.
Owned by two brothers who had a spat about whether to sell cigarettes or not (if I recall correctly, they couldnāt agree so decided to split the company in half with each taking a region)ā¦ they cooperate by agreeing not to compete against each otherā¦ theyāre not like Buick/Chevrolet who were owned by the same parent company.
Its more like if GM and Ford agreed that Ford could sell East of the Mississippi, and GM to the West of Mississippi, but they wouldnāt directly compete with each other.
@OnionSoup@tinamarie1974@werehatrack Yes I had heard the story of the two brothers as well. I first saw the European ALDI where my brother-in-law lived in Holland. At that time I already knew Trader Joes from much earlier in California.
Then when traveling across the country, once I got to Missouri I found an ALDI and I was surprised that it was in the U.S. Also in North Carolina where I sometimes stay, ALDI is common there. Yes it was similar to the ānewā TJs which is focused on brand-specific items instead of cut-outs and warehouse finds as was their original style in California.
Visually, ALDI tends to go with more of the āmini-Costcoā look with bare cartons on shelves and you grab what you want from cut-open boxes, whereas the TJs definitely evolved into a semi-upscale small grocery, no super-discount cutouts to be foundā¦
Hey, wait, in North Caronia there are both ALDI and TJs within a mile or two. So itās not really non-compete anymore, though they have different segments of the market it seems.
EDIT also, the āput in a coin to get your shopping cartā was common in Europe when I traveled there with my mother 40 years ago, but was surprised to see it at ALDI here; first time Iād seen that in the US. (put in a quarter to get your cart, when you put it back you get a coin, or someone elseās coin).
None of us I know use coins anymore. Even if you use parking meters it is almost always on an App now and no coins to be used. Coins are basically useless now. Wondering how much longer ALDI with stick with the quarter-for-your-cart thing?
@OnionSoup@pmarin@werehatrack correct about the brothers. I wasnt intending to get into all of that, but TJās is clearly part of Aldi Nord, which was my whole pointā¦that TJās is part of Aldis.
@OnionSoup@pmarin@tinamarie1974 Theyāre part of one of the two ALDIs, but the overlap between the two companies is much less than I had thought. Itās apparently a much more divisive relationship than a cooperative one at the ownership level. The two ALDIs became wholly independent entities back in the '50s, and the only thing they visibly cooperate on is the geographic divide between their European territories. Elsewhere, the attitude seems to be that the first one to claim the new territory gets all of the rights, with the exception of here in the US - and thatās apparently permitted solely because one of them is pointedly not using the Aldi name.
Meanwhile, Lidl is spreading along the East coast; they are reportedly āeven more Aldi than Aldiā in certain respects, even though they are entirely unrelated.
@pmarin@tinamarie1974@werehatrack yes, we have a Lidl. Love Lidl, prefer it to Aldi. Very much the same idea, but Lidl no paying for carts (I never have a quarter on me), they have self check-out lines so donāt have to wait forever in the only line they have open at Aldi. (although Aldi people are polite, so many times old women with carts overflowing have offered to let me go ahead of them with my one or two items). Lidl also seems to have what I want more often than Aldi.
One thing that amuses me about our Lidl, they get shipments of plants every once in a while, and they donāt water them, so theyāre always dead within a week. They canāt be making money off plants because noone buys dead plants, at leas I think they donāt.
@OnionSoup@tinamarie1974@werehatrack Thatā funny about the plants. Iāve never seen a LIDL Iāll have to look up where they are. But I do recall seeing TV ads for it and thinking Ā«Ā whatās a Lidl?Ā Ā»
@OnionSoup@pmarin@werehatrack no Lidiās here on MO but I am curious. There have been discussions about them on the threads before. Sounds interesting
And yes the Aldi family relationship is stressed and difficult. Often the case with family run businesses, money can cause divide. Seems to be a topic of conversation every time I head to Germany for business. My coworkers love to discuss it for some reason or another. Illl continue to shop at both TJ and Aldiās supporting one or the other family members and their steak in the āAldiā fortune.
Somebody got a rock. Somebody else was really bugged.
@tinamarie1974
ā¦poor Charlie Brown!
Well some level of insects is allowed in our food. I believe a jar of peanut butter is allowed 128 pieces of insect (did not google to confirm what I had read ages ago). And, my kid, when she first came to this country would catch bugs expecting me to put them in dinner. That would include coming into the house holding a wasp by itās wings. Of course she also told me, when I asked if she wanted tarantella for dinner after she told me how to cook it, āSpider no good mom. In this country we have chicken.ā.
@Kidsandliz Yeah, Iāve seen news reports saying theyāre doing all kinds of research in what level of insect consumption Western cultures will tolerate (turning them into flour, blending them into other foods so theyāre not recognizable, etc), and Iām ok with tiny fragments & stuff, i just take notice when it gets to the level of a recall!
Funny you mention peanut butter, cuz this article says itās one of the least adulterated foods available, but some of the other stuff (including the jelly on a PB & J) is a little moreā¦ugh. Although, i guess itās still better than having something fly into your mouth when youāre outside, minding your own business! 
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/health/insect-rodent-filth-in-food-wellness/index.html
@ircon96 @Kidsandliz Anyone who has ever harvested their own non-sprayed raspberries, blackberries or mulberries for consumption or cooking either is fully familiar with how many damn bugs are in them, or has seriously failed to pay attention to what they were handling.
@werehatrack
Ditto for broccoli !!
@ircon96 @werehatrack Handling or eating straight off the vine or bush (so I am sure my bug consumption, especially as a kid, was high).
well WTH, they are probably organic anywayā¦
@chienfou All Natural!
/youtube if you put fruity pebbles in your mouth you will never have rocks in your head
Not quite the one I was going for. There was a short song / ājingleā that was exactly the phrase I used in the search.
And the term āyou got rocks in your head?ā is something you donāt hear anymore, but I guess it was common in that era.
@pmarin I think this is the one you were looking for:
@ircon96 yup thatās more like it. This ad seems a bit different because it says āsweet Pebblesā because it seems it was covering both Cocoa and Fruity. The one I have in my head was definitely āFruity Pebbles in your mouthā ā it just flows better too. The āsweetā seems like an unfortunate compromise.
EDIT also the āsweetā is funny because in those days, it was still the more sugar the better (at least it was actually sugar and not HFCS then). And ads were not shy about saying how sweet their cereal was.
@ircon96 @pmarin Which, of course, reminds me of this:
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/03/22
@pmarin @xobzoo And i wonder why so many members of the post-Baby Boom generations have tha diabetes!
@ircon96 @pmarin I still call Super Golden Crisp cereal Super Sugar Crisp; the new name just sounds wrong, and old habits die hard. Honey Smacks used to be called Sugar Smacks back then, too. Nothing like truth in advertising, huh?
@ircon96 @pmarin @xobzoo Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs is the best cereal name ever.
@ircon96 @lisagd @pmarin And the mascot is still called Sugar Bear!
Yeah just saw on news about one of the recalls. But the truth is (as was mentioned in one of the linked articles) is that TJs does these even though there is no government mandate to do it, so if anything yes they āerr on the side of cautionā probably a lot more than a major chain like the Kroger-branded stores would do. TJs is still small enough to be able to handle their supply chain better because it is smaller and simpler than the mega-conglomerates with ties to the big-food industry.
I still like my TJs but they have changed a lot from what I remember as a discount store in California, which often had mostly ācut-outsā and discontinued items at good prices ā similar to what Grocery Outlet (Western US) does now. Now almost everything in TJs is custom-packaged for them. Similar to ALDI (Eastern US) which started as a discount/cut-out store and now has many products produced and labeled for them.
@pmarin I know theyāre pretty conscientious overall, i was just surprised by hearing about several in one week, that seemed a little more than they usually deal with.
@pmarin you know Aldi and TJ are owned by the same people?
@pmarin @tinamarie1974 Not exactly. In Germany, where Aldi originated, one is Aldi Sud and the other is Aldi Nord, and my understanding is that there was a split in the family that originated the stores. They are definitely separately operated entities here, with quite a few differences in presentation and obvious philosophy. Our version of Aldi strictly goes for value, while Trader Joeās has a tendency to focus more on quirkiness and quality.
@pmarin @werehatrack yes there is a seperate Nord and Sud division, but TJās is still one of the Aldi businesses. No banana but a visual org chart for explanation
@pmarin @tinamarie1974 Pay close attention to where it says two separate but closely cooperating companies up there under the first icon. Think of it as being similar to the relationship between Buick and Chevrolet, and then think of Trader Joeās as being like the now shuttered Holden brand in Australia.
@pmarin @werehatrack but still related and still under the same umbrella regardless.
And Cadillac is part of GMC, just the luxury branding. I would def call TJās the more āluxuryā division/brand offering for sure.
Kinda like my sister and I have the same parents even though we are nothing alikeā¦we are still related
@pmarin @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack they are completely financially and legally separated.
Owned by two brothers who had a spat about whether to sell cigarettes or not (if I recall correctly, they couldnāt agree so decided to split the company in half with each taking a region)ā¦ they cooperate by agreeing not to compete against each otherā¦ theyāre not like Buick/Chevrolet who were owned by the same parent company.
Its more like if GM and Ford agreed that Ford could sell East of the Mississippi, and GM to the West of Mississippi, but they wouldnāt directly compete with each other.
@OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Yes I had heard the story of the two brothers as well. I first saw the European ALDI where my brother-in-law lived in Holland. At that time I already knew Trader Joes from much earlier in California.
Then when traveling across the country, once I got to Missouri I found an ALDI and I was surprised that it was in the U.S. Also in North Carolina where I sometimes stay, ALDI is common there. Yes it was similar to the ānewā TJs which is focused on brand-specific items instead of cut-outs and warehouse finds as was their original style in California.
Visually, ALDI tends to go with more of the āmini-Costcoā look with bare cartons on shelves and you grab what you want from cut-open boxes, whereas the TJs definitely evolved into a semi-upscale small grocery, no super-discount cutouts to be foundā¦
Hey, wait, in North Caronia there are both ALDI and TJs within a mile or two. So itās not really non-compete anymore, though they have different segments of the market it seems.
EDIT also, the āput in a coin to get your shopping cartā was common in Europe when I traveled there with my mother 40 years ago, but was surprised to see it at ALDI here; first time Iād seen that in the US. (put in a quarter to get your cart, when you put it back you get a coin, or someone elseās coin).
None of us I know use coins anymore. Even if you use parking meters it is almost always on an App now and no coins to be used. Coins are basically useless now. Wondering how much longer ALDI with stick with the quarter-for-your-cart thing?
@OnionSoup
A more detailed look at the Aldis can be found here.
@OnionSoup @pmarin @werehatrack correct about the brothers. I wasnt intending to get into all of that, but TJās is clearly part of Aldi Nord, which was my whole pointā¦that TJās is part of Aldis.
@OnionSoup @pmarin @tinamarie1974 Theyāre part of one of the two ALDIs, but the overlap between the two companies is much less than I had thought. Itās apparently a much more divisive relationship than a cooperative one at the ownership level. The two ALDIs became wholly independent entities back in the '50s, and the only thing they visibly cooperate on is the geographic divide between their European territories. Elsewhere, the attitude seems to be that the first one to claim the new territory gets all of the rights, with the exception of here in the US - and thatās apparently permitted solely because one of them is pointedly not using the Aldi name.
Meanwhile, Lidl is spreading along the East coast; they are reportedly āeven more Aldi than Aldiā in certain respects, even though they are entirely unrelated.
@pmarin @werehatrack
@tinamarie1974
And youāre the luxury division of the family, of course!
@Kyeh @pmarin @werehatrack I like to think that, but she may disagree
@pmarin @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack yes, we have a Lidl. Love Lidl, prefer it to Aldi. Very much the same idea, but Lidl no paying for carts (I never have a quarter on me), they have self check-out lines so donāt have to wait forever in the only line they have open at Aldi. (although Aldi people are polite, so many times old women with carts overflowing have offered to let me go ahead of them with my one or two items). Lidl also seems to have what I want more often than Aldi.
One thing that amuses me about our Lidl, they get shipments of plants every once in a while, and they donāt water them, so theyāre always dead within a week. They canāt be making money off plants because noone buys dead plants, at leas I think they donāt.
@OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Thatā funny about the plants. Iāve never seen a LIDL Iāll have to look up where they are. But I do recall seeing TV ads for it and thinking Ā«Ā whatās a Lidl?Ā Ā»
@tinamarie1974
Totally off topic, but I saw these pretty cushions and thought if your blue and white color scheme:
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Home-Garden/Off-White-and-Navy-Bohemian-Floral-Throw-Pillow/31291624/product.html
(I was helping my mother order new chair cushions for her dining room.)
@Kyeh really pretty and looks like that pottery barn runner I like so much!!!
Did your mom find something she likes?
@OnionSoup @pmarin @werehatrack no Lidiās here on MO but I am curious. There have been discussions about them on the threads before. Sounds interesting
And yes the Aldi family relationship is stressed and difficult. Often the case with family run businesses, money can cause divide. Seems to be a topic of conversation every time I head to Germany for business. My coworkers love to discuss it for some reason or another. Illl continue to shop at both TJ and Aldiās supporting one or the other family members and their steak in the āAldiā fortune.
@tinamarie1974 Yes! We got a set of these.
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Home-Garden/Intricate-Floral-Chair-Cushion/28996007/product.html
She likes blue and white too! Theyāll be more comfortable than the poofy polyester ones sheās got now, too, because theyāre cotton.
@Kyeh oh those are super cute!
I was expecting something else from Unexpected.