Yet another Charleston WV artist blog. (But this one's SHINY!)
Everytime we visit my Mother-in-law, a native Charlestonian, we have to take her a huge bag of Mr. Bee potato chips. She can't get them in South Carolina, and really misses them. I guess there just isn't anything like them anywhere else -- kind of like Hussmann's potato chips that I used to love when I lived in Cincy!
So we took our requisite bag 'o chips down I-77, along with a backup (in case we got stranded in orange barrels and didn't have a thing to eat) only to get there and find that they just didn't taste the same! We busted open our backup bag (how did it last that long?) and got the same result. A phone call to Bee headquarters gave us the low-down -- federal regulations on snack foods require that all trans-fats be removed from the oil.
WHAT?
So you can buy cigarettes, but you can't buy chips with trans-fats? Okay, I am kind of a health-food nut. I feed my family couscous and organic veggies, but dammit, when I want that occasional bag of Mr. Bee chips, I want them, trans-fats and all!
Oh, well. That's how it goes. They're still half-decent -- they taste about like Lay's. They're just not the same old Mr. Bee chips I've known and loved.
9 comments:
Oh, dear god no.
:(
(It's Blair, I really need to get a Blogger account..)
We used to always take several bags of Mr. Bee chips to family and friends out of the area. I just returned from the local store with another brand new bag -- my last. You are right they taste like Lay's -- if I wanted Lay's Potato Chips I would BUY Lay's Potato Chips
After all these years I can't believe you ruined the best chips in the world! I like to think I was your best customer-I carried huge loads of chips to friends in Alabama and Kentucky plus I have shipped them to Germany! I have bought my last bag and I am sorry to say I wish I had not bought so many recently before I tried them first..Family & Friends were so disappointed! Nothing to look forward to now..I guess all good things come to an end and the great taste of Mr. Bee's has certainly come to an end!! Former Customer in Spencer, WV
I, too, have bought my last bag of "Lays-tasting" Mr. Bee chips. I can't believe it! What would be the point? I agree with another comment, if I wanted Lay's, I would buy Lay's. Mr. Bee had such a different and distinctive taste, so special, and now it's been ruined! What a revoltin' development....
This is a real shame. I was born and raised in WV and I have lived in FL for 12 yrs. I was just telling one of my co-workers how GREAT Mr. Bee Potato Chips were and how no one else could beat their taste, only to my dismay, I find out they have changed them. I would love, love, love to have a bag of the old ones!!!! The new ones.....NO WAY. Please change them back!!!!!
I am a native Parkersburg-ian/ite, and I have missed Mr. Bee's since moving to Dayton, OH. Everytime I go home, I'm all over a bag of regular Mr. Bee's like Oprah on a ham; HOWEVER, they have changed the oil in which they fry their chips. I used to think it was cottonseed oil that gave them their good flavor because many things I like are fried in cottonseed oil, however, the label now only lists cottonseed, whereas before it mentioned "vegetable and/or cottonseed oil". In years past, it may have mentioned up to 3 different ones. Now that cottonseed is the only one mentioned, I can only conclude that this is the cause for their horrible taste. The are now no different than your ordinary greasy Lay's or Mike Sell's (from Dayton). Parkersburg has taken away from me many things--Stork bread, Yielky's hamburgers, and now Mr. Bee's. I never need to buy another bag of them again.
Save your money, and beak the news to your Mother-in-law gently.
--David
I live in South Carolina, but I am a native of Parkersburg,WV. I always bring home a trunk full of MR.Bees whenever I go up there. I just tried the new version. I wondered if their machinery broke down, and they had to rebag Lays chips or something. These things are horrible now! I guess I will just have to forget the Mr Bees and have to be content with McHappy's doughnuts.
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2006071817/
Published 7/18/06
Welcome Back Mr. Bee's!
Oh, thank goodness!
I mean, if I want health food, I'll eat that, but the occasional trans-fat chip snack isn't going to kill anyone.
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