Yuck!
Most of the time, I use Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole wheat pasta, but sometimes you just want something that tastes like good old fashioned white pasta, so I also keep Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta in the pantry.
I just finished off a box, and glanced at the ingredients list before I tossed it into recycling. What? Something is very wrong here! BHA & BHT along with Fractionated Coconut Oil?? I know I would never have purchased a product with those kind of ingredients! What happened?
I looked at another box, and those ingredients were not listed! The only difference between both boxes was it was now listing “Now With Vitamin D” – so to include Vitamin D, they have to also add icky toxic preservatives and Fractionated Coconut Oil*?! Not happy Ronzoni!
The reason I am not happy about “fractionated” coconut oil is because it’s refined with heat, not cold pressed. I like coconut oil, but it’s gotta be extra virgin for me to consume it!
Here is a full list of both the old and new versions:
Older without Vitamin D:
Semolina (Wheat), Durum Flour (Wheat), Modified Wheat Starch, Calcium Phosphate, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid
New with added Vitamin D (highlighted bold text signifies a new ingredient)
Semolina (Wheat), Durum Flour (Wheat), Modified Wheat Starch, Dicalcium Phosphate, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Food Starch Modified, Vitamin D3, BHA & BHT perservatives, Fractionated Coconut Oil
Out of protest, I will not be purchasing ANY Ronzoni products! It’s sneaky and deceitful how they dramatically changed the product like that! Once the cupboard needs a pasta refill, I will switch to a more reputable brand!
Note: Their parent company is New World Pasta
Brands include Healthy Harvest®, Ronzoni®, Smart Choice®, San Giorgio®, Creamette®, American Beauty®, Skinner®, Prince®, Catelli® and Lancia®.
In 2006, the Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ebro Puleva, S.A., one of the world’s leading food companies. Ebro Puleva’s other subsidiary in the United States, Riviana Foods Inc., has such well-known brands as Mahatma®, Carolina®, Success®, Minute® and Gourmet House®.
So, needless to say, I will also be staying away from their other products as well, not that I buy any of them now, but I surely won’t in the future!
Ronzoni stinks! :P Blah!
UPDATE May 12, 2010:
I happened to be at the grocery store the other day, and I noticed the Smart Taste pasta. I was curious, so I took a look at the ingredients again.
Wow! No more BHA & BHT perservatives, Fractionated Coconut Oil. Amazing!
I still don’t trust them, since they added these ingredients in the first place without warning, so I am still staying away from their products. They really never should have added these bad ingredients, but it’s nice to see them taking them out of their pasta!
It is nice that you have shared the covert operations of Ronzini. I appreciate as much information as possible. What has happened in the gum industry (adding ace-k and aspertame) is equally disturbing to me….The warning you expect, however, is that supposed to be a certified letter, a billboard announcing their “improvement”. As a matter of being helpful, have you ever made your own pasta, with flour and egg?
I just returned 70lbs. of Ronzoni pasta that I purchased on sale for my family. After cooking a few boxes, I was convinced they had changed the ingredients. The leftover pasta was slime, macaroni salad sogged out, it was the worst pasta I ever ate. Back to Barilla, never again. Was happy to read I am not the only one who felt this way.
I noticed the BHA and BHT too! I thought why in the world do they have to put this crap in dried pasta!
Didn’t even use the box, threw it away!
I’m going to try the Barilla whole wheat pasta.
Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been trying alternative pastas, like quinoa, corn and brown rice. Very tasty!
I really want to know what ‘modified wheat starch’ is. My mother-in-law was told by her gastrointestinal surgeon that she can’t eat whole wheat because it could cause her problems, but this is ‘modified starch’ and I wonder if she can have it. It sounds like soluble fiber… Any idea about this?
Amy, I wrote this post almost 2 years ago, and I’ve changed my opinions about good old fashioned white pasta. I don’t think it’s a problem in moderation, and that is what I make once a week. I stay away from any ingredients that are highly processed like modified starches.
Just my opinion.
I was a big fan of Ronzoni Smart Taste until yesterday. I picked up a box of penne for a casserole and when I opened the box, I discovered they had changed the packaging to 12 oz!!! I had thrown my receipt away, so I don’t know how much I paid for it, but you can be sure I sent them a complaint. 12 oz is a very inconvenient size, and if the price is the same it’s quite an increase. I was so disappointed because I really like their pasta. Can’t wait to see if they’ve changed the packing weight on their other products as well. But either way, I’m so mad I’m switching to Pastene.
Hey Diane! Be aware a lot of pasta products are no longer 16 oz. I buy Dececco brand, it’s more expensive but the taste is excellent, incomparable to other pastas sold at grocery stores. When I find it on sale, I buy a larger quantity. I’ve seen it for $2 and they give you a full pound.
I used to love the Smart Taste. When the new box came out, I called them and said it had a horrible taste. That was a couple of years ago. Just called again today and they denied that anything had been changed in the pasta even though it says on the box “Now with oat fiber”. Rep said it was always like that. The original Smart Taste tasted as good as regular pasta and now it’s awful. I agree with Debbie. I’m just going to have regular pasta in smaller amounts. What a shame.
I read the ingredients and it only lists durum whole wheat flour. What holds the flour together?
Water? Eggs?
I am a type two diabetic and the extra fiber in the smart taste products was the difference between me being able to enjoy pasta or limit it to such a small amount that it was not worth bothering to make it. The change in their ingredients is so disappointing. I must say that I am very happy that they reversed the recipe however I agree it’s really tough to trust them after this flip-flop