Uh Oh, here come CheeseburgerOs


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The cheeseburger-ing of America has finally come down to this: CheeseburgerOs.

The iconic pasta O's-in-a-can that have stuffed American pantries for nearly 50 years are rolling out in cheeseburger flavor. It's just the third time in five decades that a new SpaghettiOs flavor has been added.

The unusual flavor pairing comes at a time that American consumers can't seem to get enough cheeseburger flavor mixed and mashed into other foods.

The cultural driver: comfort. "Cheeseburger is clearly a comfort flavor," notes Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director at research firm Datamonitor. Cheeseburgers have grown 40% as items on restaurant menus since 2009, reports research firm Mintel. In stressful times, it's not unusual for food makers to roll out flavors that harken to better -- if not nostalgic -- times.

Not everyone loves the canned pasta made by Campbell Soup Company that's targeted at kids. "Can you think of anything more frightening than cheeseburger-flavored things floating around inside a can of SpaghettiOs?" asks Ken Albala, who teaches a History of Food class at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. "They're debasing the whole next generation of taste buds."

But Campbell executives say they're simply making what Americans want. "Cheeseburgers consistently rank as one of Americans' favorite foods," says Ed Carolan, general manager of soup and simple meals at Campbell. The move, he says, "seemed like something we needed to do."

The idea hit Campbell's executives about a year ago, says Carolan, and it took about 12 months to evolve from concept to reality. Carolan declined to be specific about SpaghettiOs sales, but says they were "steady" from 2011 to 2012. Last year, consumers purchased roughly 120 million cans of SpaghettiOs, he says.

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I, too, came for a lolcat-based Linux distro. Leaving disappointed. :P

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I wonder what the actual 'meat' is --- if they added pork, Campbell's can forget me buying. :laugh:

 

Aha:

 

Ingredients
 

Water, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Enriched Pasta (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Seasoned Cooked Beef Crumbles (Beef, Salt, Flavoring), Contains Less Than 2% of: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Beef, Prepared Mustard (Distilled Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Paprika, Spice, Dehydrated Garlic), Enzyme Modified Cheddar Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Made from Cheddar, Swiss And Blue Cheese {Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes}], Water, Sodium Caseinate, Sodium Phosphates, Enzymes, Salt, Xanthan Gum), Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Dehydrated Tomatoes, Natural Flavor, Sugar, Hydrolyed Corn Protein, Vegetable Oil, Citric Acid, Annatto Extract For Color, Yeast Extract, Hydrolyzed Yeast Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Soy Protein, Spice, Flavoring.

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I definitely expected to see this article in a European news outlet and not USA Today. The way this guy writes the article you'd think Americans ate cheeseburgers for breakfast lunch and dinner. And cheeseburger flavor mixed into other foods? I can't say I've seen many cheeseburger flavored foods. Bacon perhaps, but not cheeseburgers. I think just the sheer amount of eating fast food is what makes burgers seem so popular. The only thing I've ever gotten cheeseburger flavored other than a cheeseburger is pizza. A friend and I built a cheeseburger pizza from this awesome pizza place down the road and it was pretty damn good, haha. Same ingredients really, just a different shape.

 

This I will pass on though. :laugh:

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Yes, I know. It's not exactly rocket science. That why I asked what the hell it's doing in soup, which shouldn't have ANY sweeteners in it!

Yeah it's pretty pathetic in my opinion as well. Our bodies get enjoyment from sweet things and these companies just pack their foods with it so kids get hooked. It's shameful but what can you do in a capitalist gone consumerist society.
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