Why You Should Avoid Walmart When Buying Canned Peas

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Unless you belong to the admittedly large community of pea haters, it's likely that canned peas have a steady presence in your pantry. They're a quick, easy way to get a good amount of protein, fiber, iron, manganese, calcium, and antioxidants, and are low-calorie — plus, for the pea lovers out there, they do in fact taste great and add toothsome pops of earthy, subtly sweet herbaceousness to any dish. That is, of course, as long as you choose the right brand. To help ensure you stock up on delicious and not disappointing peas, we ranked 10 brands of canned peas, from worst to best. The clear winner? Libby's Sweet Peas. The clear loser? Walmart. Two times.

Walmart's Great Value Organic Early Small Peas ranked dead last, with the same brand's sweet peas right behind in the number-nine slot. Great Value is one of Walmart's house brands in addition to Bettergoods and Marketside. Its peas are indeed cheap, around $0.76 compared to other brands like Del Monte, Green Giant, Goya, and, our favorite, Libby, which typically range from about $1.39 to $2.59. But it's hard to call something a "great value" just because it's cheap if the product itself isn't actually good or high-quality, and Walmart's peas are not. Both the small and sweet peas are bland, not only devoid of flavor but also of moisture and bite in their texture. Add to that the unsettling fact that they don't promise the cans' lining is BPA-free, and there's little reason to buy this brand.

Walmart shoppers seem to agree it's worth paying a little more for a better-tasting brand. It's worth noting that Libby's does package its peas in non-BPA cans. "BPA-free" doesn't always guarantee a product is totally safe from other chemicals, but it's a step in the right direction. Walmart's Great Value peas don't offer this, nor, it seems, do they offer appealing flavor.

"I always used to buy these because for canned peas in salad they were okay...it's been several months since my last purchase," says Walmart customer Margo in a review of the sweet peas. "BUT THESE ARE FLAVORLESS AND HAVE A VERY TOUGH WOODY TEXTURE. NEVER AGAIN. I'll just get Libby's and have to get over the price difference." Another shopper, Jeremiah, echoes, "[The] last 4 cans of peas we bought were horrible. They were very dry...Some of the peas were very hard and chewy as well." One reviewer even posted under the name, "Disappointed" to warn: "These may be the worst green peas I've ever bought. They were hard, grainy, and tasteless."

If you're reading this and have Great Value sweet peas or small peas in your pantry already, there are steps to take to avoid wasting them unless you are indeed concerned about possible BPA. Brown sugar is great for sweetening bland canned peas, or you can pop the peas into a fresh salad with lots of other, tastier ingredients to pull focus while the peas at least provide some added nutrition.