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The big shift in nacho cheese sauce brands over the last 5 years | Junk Food Pairings - Hub Chatter

The big shift in nacho cheese sauce brands over the last 5 years

I swear nacho cheese from the gas station used to be this thick, gooey stuff that actually stuck to the chips. Now every pump I hit at 7-Eleven or Circle K gives me this watery, orange mess that runs right off. Been grabbing a bag of Doritos and a cheese cup from the deli counter instead, and it's way better. My buddy says the change happened around 2020 when they started using cheaper oil and fillers. Has anyone else noticed this downgrade, or am I just hitting bad pumps in Phoenix?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivanl761mo ago

Man I heard something about this from a food science podcast a few months back. They were saying a lot of those gas station brands switched to something called "modified food starch" around 2020 to cut costs, and it makes the cheese separate and get watery when it sits in the warmer too long. I noticed it too, especially at the 7-Eleven by my place. The old stuff had that thick, stretchy texture that actually coated the chips, now it's like orange water with a weird film on top. Your buddy's probably right about the cheaper oil thing, I saw this video where a guy tested different brands and the newer ones had way more fillers and less actual cheese solids. Honestly the deli cup move is smart, I started doing that with the Tostitos queso and never looked back.

victorcoleman1mo ago

Ha, I don't know @ivanl76, I feel like we're overthinking gas station nachos here. It's a 3 dollar snack from a place that also sells lottery tickets and cigarette lighters. I've been eating them for years and honestly, I can't tell the difference between the watery stuff now and whatever they had before. It's all just salty orange goo that tastes good when you're half asleep on a road trip. Maybe the real problem is expecting a gourmet experience from a roller grill.