Food at Walmart tastes strange but is it safe?

I live in South Texas, We have Walmart and a large grocery store chain called H.E.B.. Walmart you're familiar with, HEB is known for being one of the better markets both in terms of quality and service and I think they live up to that.

Over the years, I've shopped for food at both store chains at several locations and now have the routine where unless it's canned, I just won't buy food at Walmart, here's why:

MEATS: Have a funny metallic taste compared to any other source, also a bit tougher, finally no bargain either.
BREAD: Cakes and breads also have a metallic taste and are never nearly as moist or good tasting as other markets.
FRUITS & VEGETABLES: Some things seem ok, but Broccoli tastes strange, almost every kind of fruit is bland and not ripe enough, they LOOK ok, but when you get them home, they taste terrible. Watermelons are a great example, just horrendous, look perfect but taste foul and flavorless. Walk across the street and they're fine.
MILK & EGGS: I went organic a few years ago and they are a dollar or more cheaper at Walmart, but now I can't help but wonder if they're short cutting this too somehow, I notice the eggs do behave as if they're old pretty often (shells are stickier on hard boiled), but milk seems OK.
TRUE VALUE Walmart brand: almost always taste bland and old. HEB house brand almost always great quality on par or better than name brand.


Every so often I'll forget my rule and buy something on my list above from Walmart and instantly notice and remember why I don't buy to begin with. I talk to a few people here and there about it and they all agree but no one seems to think much of it. I can't help but wonder if it's just low quality, something more nefarious or just that I'm too picky.

Anyone else notice this or is it just us?

I have not noticed it but you know how you get something in your head and it affects your perception sometimes. However, the funk you describe could be from the efforts to get the cheapest ingredients available for selling, so who knows. Plus whatever comes out of China is suspect imo. We need to grow our own and support/buy from local farmers and such.

Peace,
spec

reply to post by Paschar0


I live in Central Texas and like you, Walmart and HEB are the big players.

I haven't noticed the things you have with Walmart. But I only shop for certain things from Walmart. I will not buy meat, unless it is straight from the deli. I just don't like it. Ironicly, I have found my local Sam's Club has the best meat when compaired to HEB or Walmart.

You said you are getting a metalic taste. Have you had any type of surgery lately? Or any Imaging tests done lately? That can trigger a metalic taste.

You can do like I do, shop mainly at HEB.

I'm out in CO but I've noticed the same thing. My daughter loves bananas and we go through them pretty quickly. I had to stop buying them at Wal-Mart because they were never ripe. Also, we never buy meat there, either. Its always tougher and never tastes right. We started buying our meat from a local farmer that we know. I don't think the blandness or weirdness is just limited to TX. I think part of the problem is that its such a huge store. There realy isn't much focus on customers. When we shop at smaller stores, the quality is just that much better.

reply to post by Justaposter

Well now that is odd given the fact Sams Club and WalMart purchase and supply out of the same docks and warehouses on their food as well as everything else. I'll have to ask my wife to buy from WalMart and local grocery stores here on a couple items to see if we pick up on the differences this thread mentions.

i ALMOST bought steak in there until i read the fine print of an 'all natural' steak. it said processed.

walmart is one miserable globalist corporation. they would sell out america to make china rich.

im a big guy, i used to be a bouncer, so i love to lift, but i am not ripped. a few years back i slowly started to eat all natural foods. i read every single label. 2 years ago i went gung ho with it, i never buy anything with artificial ingredients.

i work out every day, but i have always worked out. and yet now, after switching to pure all natural, i lose 1 pound a month, and i get to eat pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc. i eat a TON of veggies, but i still get to indulge in organic all natural foods.

so never buy fake food. read every label. the fact i never changed anything except all natural foods, and all of a sudden im losing weight? it meant the fake food was wrecking my life.

everything from walmart has got the gmo taint. 'enriched' modified its all crapan thats why its cheap

stop shopping there if you think it's contaminated. it is walmart afterall. you will be buying the worst of the worst either way.


my cousin buys fruit that grocery stores don't accept, because the truck got too cold or warm etc, and sells them to walmart, or prisons.

I just sign in for first time-just to agree that some food in wallmartis is not right .Don't ever buy meat there,steaks are like rubber,fish all made in china...

I have found that for the last several years, that beef from some suppliers, smells like poo.

I went along with my sister to walmart a month or so ago. I HATE walmart for many reasons but I won't get into that here...

I just wanted to add that I decided to buy a couple bucks worth of "fresh" green beans because I am waiting for my bumper crop of bush beans to come further along. I picked through and grabbed 100 or so of the best looking ones.

They tasted horrible!

I didn't even bother to throw them into my compost... was afraid of what I could be introducing into my beautiful organic humus.

I will not be making that mistake again.

I'm in North Texas and haven't noticed anything. I don't think we have HEB up here.

Most of our food comes from Wal Mart (or Sam's Club and the Wal Mart Neighborhood Market), with the exception of fresh fruits and vegetables that are bought at a Farmer's Market right down the street. Like I said, I haven't noticed anything, but I've also always had Wal Mart food, so I'm most likely used to any type of taste it might have.

That's why you should support locally grown food at farmer's markets. Its Walmart crying out loud. What do you expect? The best quality service and products??? Its like buying a Ford or Saturn and expecting it to be a BWM or Mercedes Benz.

High five Americans.

You can imagine my amazement at seeing a long time friend and employee of Wal Mart buying his groceries at another store rather than at Wal Mart where he gets a discount.

I asked him why he was shopping at the store we were in.
He just smiled and said it was cheaper.

He knows something but stayed loyal to his pay check and would not tell me the real reason .

No Wal Mart food for me.

Wall-mart is one of the biggest corporations on the planet. Why do you trust them enough to buy stuff from them?

find a local small farm and make a deal raise a beef or pig and split costs
i get 2 pigs and whole beef this way and really can not buy this quality in any store
the processed store meat never sees any grain and too much antibiotics in the system
you will find the quality amazing

I'll buy groceries from the aisles but never anything "fresh" from the store perimeter.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend bought strawberries from Walmart the same day I bought strawberries from the local grocery store. The Walmart strawberries were brighter and bigger than the ones I bought but guess which package of strawberries started to mold after only two days in the refrigerator?

The ones from Walmart. Yuck.

I live in San Antonio , I agree with you on the food issues at Walmart. I NEVER buy meat or fresh fruit or veggies there. Well really the only thing ill drop by Walmart to get is a certain brand of ice-cream or coke. I can't stand Walmart and I only go there if its late and the H.E.B. is closed.
I really am not all that fond of H.E.B. to be honest. It seems there aren't many places to get good fresh produce. I have a girlfriend who's family owns a small grocer here in town ,it may be a supply but anyway she gave me a ton of fruit and veggies they were gonna throw out and they were so much better than any I had bought at other stores.
Just a note......everyone including her family took home the throw out produce. It kinda bugged me at first but we cleaned it and it was fine. I really wish there was a farmers market near me and a place to buy good meat. I feel like we have no choices besides really bad ,probably Gmo, produce.
My kids and I wanted to get a juicer and a Yonnannas and change our eating habits but I am afraid we will just be concentrating bad stuff. Just the thought of all the pesticides and GMO. ( I DON'T trust produce labeled "organic" seems they could easily fake that)
Even the Sun Whole foods has crappy produce and they don't only sell organic.

I also noticed and thought it was just me ,that the produce I do buy seems to go moldy and bad super fast, it has happened so much that I never buy produce ahead of time, I usually buy it the same day I'm gonna use it or I just skip it.

Damn if you really think about it there isn't anything good or safe to eat. I guess I am researching the nearest farmer market and taking a trip. As long as the damn food doesn't go bad before I even get to use it.

reply to post by SHABBYCAT


I noticed lately heb in s.a.'s tomatoes are tasteless. I hate heb, but not much of a choice here. You should find a w.i.c. Office by you, go in and ask if they have the paper for the farmers market locations. These are held certain days/hours, and you deal directly with the hands that grow it

I know they do it on s. Flores, right off se military (in texas thrift parking lot, right next to abolito's nursery, across from walgreens on sat 10-2, and i think the other day is tues. my paper with the locations is in my truck at the shop. Sorry.