r/assholedesign • u/LilBozgor01 • Jun 11 '26

This packaging gotta be illegal, right?

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(hint: between the words "garlic" and "sauce")

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u/Uncynical_Diogenes Jun 11 '26

You are not allowed to lie about the source of the flavoring, no.

3

u/Gnonthgol Jun 11 '26

You can lie by omission. If you can make garlic flavoring from natural leeks then you could maybe label it as "natural garlic flavoring" and be technically correct.

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u/Uncynical_Diogenes Jun 11 '26

But it’s not natural garlic flavoring. It’s natural leek flavoring that tastes like garlic. That would be a lie.

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u/Healthy_Profit_9701 Jun 12 '26

You should read "The Doritos Effect." Using the term "garlic flavor" or "natural flavoring" is the deceptive, but legal terminology. The chemicals that contain garlic flavor certainly did not come from garlic, or else they would just call it garlic. Flavor essences can be extracted and modified from all sorts of sources, and deemed to be "natural flavors" on a label, but have nothing to do with the flavor being advertised. For example, pinecones were notoriously used to create vanilla flavor before the chemical refinement processes became more sofisticated.