Whether you have a nut allergy, you're avoiding foods with red dye 40, or you're just mindful about what you eat, you might find yourself regularly reading ingredient labels, especially when you're trying something new. There is nothing wrong with being a thoughtful consumer, especially when it comes to what you eat. In fact, we encourage it.
But we're also here to warn you: Beware of Walmart's Great Value brand ingredient labels. The labels might cause heart palpitations and dizziness — not to mention general feelings of bewilderment — as you try to understand what you just read, according to some viral TikToks.
@padiano @walmart you good? #weirdwalmartfinds #minimarshmallows #ricekrispietreats #thehoneyandoakco #tilapiafishing ♬ original sound - Paden Ferguson
In a viral TikTok video, user @padiano showed a package of Great Value brand mini marshmallows as he rhetorically asked viewers when the last time we checked on Walmart's store brand was, pointing out one surprising note beneath the list of ingredients. Right there in bold were the words, "May contain traces of tilapia." In mini marshmallows. There might be some fish. In your mini marshmallows. So, you meant to tell me that the ambrosia salad I made for Easter might've had FISH in it? That's taking Lent one step too far, Great Value.
One commenter even jokingly called into question Great Value's integrity as an overall brand, quipping, "Great Value tilapia doesn't even have tilapia."
The surprising labels on Great Value products didn't stop with the marshmallows as another TikToker discovered when examining a bottle of pancake syrup from the store brand.
You know how sometimes Caesar dressing has anchovies and sometimes it doesn't? The same goes for maple syrup ... right? If you're vehemently shaking your head "no," you obviously haven't read the ingredient label on a Great Value maple syrup bottle recently, because there's a menacing little, "May contain anchovies" note at the bottom of the label. We'd rather risk a bit of bark and tap our own trees before eating fishy flapjacks.
Realistically, Great Value's warning is probably just a precaution for consumers with food allergies and is ultimately attributable to the fact that the products with the disconcerting messages on them were processed in the same facilities as the unexpected foods listed on the disclaimer (i.e. maple syrup is probably sometimes packaged in the same facility canned anchovies are).
And lest we forget where gelatin — used to make marshmallows — comes from, either. It's commonly made by boiling down the skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones of beef or pork, but fish is sometimes used to create gelatin, too.
Either way, it's a good reminder to look closely at the ingredients listed on your favorite foods as some of them might surprise you.
Cheapism reached out to Walmart for clarification on Great Value Brand's ingredients and will update this article if and when we receive a response.