You're Not Imagining It: Smartfood Popcorn Doesn't Taste The Same As It Used To

People have been snacking on popcorn for at least 6,700 years. While people in ancient Peru may have enjoyed this snack, they certainly weren't munching on it with white cheddar seasoning, the kind Smartfood made famous. 

Smartfood became hugely popular for providing perfectly popped kernels with a delicious, strong cheesy flavor. But then something happened. Have you noticed that it doesn't taste the way it used to? For several years now, people on Reddit and across social media have claimed that Smartfood popcorn just doesn't taste as bold and cheesy as it used to. It's also decidedly cleaner, leaving your fingers spotless after eating instead of caked with powdery cheese residue.

Sometime around 2020, Frito-Lay changed the Smartfood recipe, moving cheese further down the list of ingredients. Where once it was front and center, it is now the second-to-last ingredient, right above salt. It's no wonder the flavor doesn't stand up the way it used to. Whether it was a cost-cutting measure or for another reason, Smartfood switched to an inferior product that does not contain the core flavor component in any appreciable amounts.

Smartfood was created by Annie Withey and her husband in 1985. They only ran the company for a few years before selling to Frito-Lay in 1989. Afterward, Withey and her husband formed Annie's Homegrown, famous for its mac and cheese.

Frito-Lay developed numerous flavors of Smartfood but always kept the original white cheddar in the lineup. Though it was called White Cheddar, the recipe has changed over the years. The original recipe included popcorn, vegetable oil, and cheddar cheese as the first three ingredients. You can find these ingredients on bags from as recently as 2019. But now cheddar cheese is the seventh ingredient in Smartfood behind popcorn, vegetable oil, natural flavors, whey, maltodextrin, and buttermilk.

Natural flavors have taken the place of cheddar cheese. It's unclear what Smartfood means by natural flavor, and there are many potential natural flavors they could use. Some companies make plant-based cheese flavoring that relies heavily on yeast to create those savory cheese notes. Products like enzyme-modified cheese use natural enzymes to enhance and intensify cheese flavor with much less cheese involved. That process could also qualify as a natural flavor.

Whatever Smartfood is doing, it's clear the recipe has changed. Based on customer feedback, it was not a change for the better. If you're looking for the real deal, maybe try making some bacon truffle pecorino popcorn at home.