Just say no

My husband has a standing order to buy me weird snacks when he goes to Grocery Outlet, our neighborhood food liquidator. One of his latest finds was this 7 Days Soft Baked Croissant with strawberry & vanilla filling. These are also available on Amazon, for those who don’t have access to an actual grocery store.

I’ve had packaged pastries of this kind before – mostly in hotel breakfasts in the Middle East – so I had an idea of what I was in for. This croissant met those expectations. The croissant had that inelastic, stalish texture that I’ve come to associate with packaged pastries. It’s not hard per se, but you actually have to work at tearing a piece off with your teeth. It is fairly dry and not particularly pleasant tasting. Microwaving it for a few seconds did help make it more edible.

The vanilla filling, however, melted in the microwave into a liquid that splat all over when I bit into it. It was not pleasant. Flavor wise, however, it was OK.

The croissants are made by Snackworks, which is owned by Mondelez International. Previously a part of Kraft foods, Mondelez has been accused of serious human rights violations, including the use of slave child labor in its cocoa supplies and in continuing to do business in Russia through their war with Ukraine.

Needless to say, I wouldn’t buy them again.