None of my recipes for sweet pickle relish call for Splenda/sucralose, so obviously Vlasic is using a different definition of "homestyle" than the one found in the dictionary.
Once upon a time, sweet relish was made with plain honest sugar, but I can't remember the last time I found a national brand of relish produced that way. Either it's cucumber bits swimming in high-fructose corn syrup goo, or it's some bullshit "homestyle" crap with artificial sweeteners. It's pretty shameful that I have to go to Dollar Tree and buy jars of sweet pickle relish imported from India to find all-natural, sugar-sweetened relish.
Here's a challenge for you -- try finding DILL relish. I can sometimes find Mt. Olive and Heifitz dill relish in tiny packages (4 oz or so) - but, not consistently. Heinz is everywhere, like doggie-doody in the park. But, their dill relish - fuggidaboudit.
ReplyDeleteI can find dill relish pretty consistently around here, in several different brands, but like you said, it usually is in smaller sizes.
ReplyDeleteIt's all getting sadder and sadder.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and something I've noticed for quite some time! Most of the sweet pickle relishes I've tried have been sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup which renders them almost like a grotesque pickle-flavored candy. I've been really pleased with the relish and other pickle products I've bought at my local Dollar Tree, since their flavor hasn't been too adulterated. I've never seen a dill relish there, though. I have tried and relied on Vlasic's product as a pretty good example of a dill relish.
ReplyDeleteyeah.... But it's SQUEEZABLE!
ReplyDeleteI can't stand most of the commercial stuff anyway - kind of like hot dogs, know one really knows what's in there. (Okay, I still eat hot dogs)
Just went downstairs to get a jar of sweet relish from our stash in the cellar...it's America's Choice (A&P house brand?) and it has sugar, no corn syrup. But it is made in India..so probably the same company as the job lot brands.
ReplyDeleteI kinda find this post offensive and narrow-minded. I for one am glad there's a sweet pickle relish out there on the market that I could purchase for my mom (since I can't stand the stuff while she loves it on hot dogs and the like) that won't cause her blood sugar levels to spike. She's diabetic, BTW, and has been for at least the whole of my life. And I'm her caregiver due to other health issues.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while I insist on regular all-fruit spreads and pancake syrups, I grew up drinking only diet sodas and can't stand regular ones (with the exception of Dr. Pepper Ten), sweeten my iced tea with a mixture of saccharine and aspartame, love "sugar-free" hot cocoa and Hawaiian Punch, and am addicted to Chick Fil A's "diet" lemonade. And my blood sugar levels are always in the 80s and 90s. So anti-sugar substitute snobbery really rubs me the wrong way. Especially since I know Mom would love this product.