A woman conducts an experiment between an 8-count and 40-count boxes of Rice Krispies Treats and discovers a clear difference between them.
Rice Krispies Treats is a childhood snack that is cherished by many. Something about the marshmallow texture and taste simply satisfies the taste buds. However, one woman discovered that there may be a difference in taste and quality depending on which pack you buy.
In a TikTok with over 1.1 million views, Bajj (@bajj36970) reveals the experiment that tested the quality, color, and size of Rice Krispies Treats between boxes. This post by Bajj appears to be a repost, as the original creator @ursulasweetmood initially conducted the experiment in July 2024.
What’s Wrong With These Rice Krispies Treats?
The post begins with a squeeze test where one product is crumbled quickly. The woman decided that she wanted to test the quality difference between a Rice Krispies Treats 8-count box and a bulk box of 40. She opens every single Rice Krispies Treat to conduct the experiment and believes that the 40-count box is made with lower quality.
She refers to a past statement provided by Kellogg’s in which they said the products are sold by weight, not dimension. However, she thinks the 8-count box is a better product.
“There’s a reason why the Rice Krispies Treats in the 8-count box is about $0.50 per Rice Krispies Treats and the ones in the 40 count box come to about $0.25 to $0.30 per Rice Krispies Treats. There’s a reason for that,” she alleges. “They’re not being made the same. You are not getting the same quality product. You think you are getting a good deal. We think we’re getting a good deal as s consumers but we are not.”
Time To Open Up The Boxes
With plastic gloves on, the unwrapping begins with all the Rice Krispies Treats. After unwrapping, there’s one noticeable difference from the start. The 8-count Rice Krispies Treats are white, while the 40-pack Rice Krispies Treats are more brown.
The color is off to begin with, but a scale is grabbed to further prove her point. The 40-count Rice Krispies Treats weighed 21.3 grams each, while the 8-count weighed 23.5 grams.
“We’re getting crappy products when we do think we’re getting the same product because the packaging is exactly the same,” she shares.
The woman squeezes both Rice Krispies Treats, and the treat from the bigger box quickly falls apart in her hands.
“It’s not necessarily about the weight; sometimes it’s like these air pockets,” she notices.
Addressing Kellogg’s initial response, she doesn’t believe it’s the weight.
“They’re just being made differently and that’s why we’re getting a good deal in the larger boxes,” she speculates.
People Urge Her To Make Her Own
Viewers in the comment section have noticed the chemical taste in Rice Krispie Treats.
“Boots on the ground journalism! I love it,” one TikTok commenter wrote.
“They taste like chemicals, make your own,” another added.
“They don’t taste like they used to in the early 90’s! I mean nothing does. All chemicals now,” a third chimed in.
Other people on the spectrum chimed in, mentioning they’ve noticed the texture difference.
“My daughter is autistic and she will not eat them from the bigger box so I definitely agree something is different,” one revealed.
“I’m autistic, texture is HUGE for me. I notice immediately when the smallest things are off and I can confirm, I will NEVER buy the big box. Something ain’t right about it. It’s not as dense, and nowhere near as crispy,” one shared.
Some viewers can’t trust Kellogg’s anymore after all the discrepancies.
“There’s a major color difference and size cut,” one commented.
“Even the color looks darker in the 40 box,” one noticed.
“I can taste a difference between a gas station vs grocery store,” one shared.
“The 40 ct box advertises them as 22 g bars…they weighed in less than that at 21.3. That fact alone tells me they are being sneaky with it,” one added.
Has Rice Krispies Treats’ Quality Gone Down?
Rice Krispies Treats has recently been put under question after long-time customers started noticing subtle differences in the product.
The product has been put under scrutiny for shrinkflation.
One customer shared on Reddit that they noticed the wrapper appeared to be smaller compared to the last box she had. The Rice Krispies Treats customer ended up still having an old wrapper and confirmed the new wrapper was smaller. However, the box and packaging remained the same.
Customers have also noticed the weight appearing off from the description on the package and have also conducted squeeze tests just as the TikToker did.
On top of all of this, many customers believe the taste is different and that the quality has gone down.
“I swear they’ve changed their recipe in the past ~10-15 years or so. When I was younger I swear they tasted so much better,” one Reddit user wrote.
What frustrates consumers most is that when this happens, the price will stay the same or, worse, go up. Considering inflation is already high, the last thing anyone wants is to pay more for less product that tastes worse.
BroBible has contacted Bajj via TikTok direct message, and the original creator and Kellogg’s via email.