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Here’s the Trending team’s main character of the week: It’s Matt Gaetz. I’m kidding, it’s Olive Garden breadsticks.
This week someone went viral because they noticed that the famous breadsticks at their local Olive Garden tasted off. Different. A commenter who claimed to be a former worker said that it was common for them to temporarily change suppliers.
We’ve reached out to Olive Garden about this but no word back yet. Still, this news ricocheted across the Internet and shook us to our cores. People dislike change. People cling to their youth.
For old millennials like me, the Olive Garden was the fanciest meal imaginable in 1995. We are lured back when nostalgic promos such as never-ending pasta are dusted off the shelf and recirculated. Then we walk in and are grossed out by the modern ziosks.
Did Olive Garden even change the breadsticks?
The company definitely made a change in 2023. The chain switched recipes in late 2023 and now offers sesame-free breadsticks. It isn’t your mind playing tricks on you. And it was a purposeful shift, as Allergic Living wrote:
“Under the FASTER Act, which took effect January 1, 2023, manufacturers are required to clearly label sesame as a top allergen when it’s an ingredient. To get around cross-contact and potential recall risks, the baking industry has widely adopted a practice of ‘adding sesame.’
This practice has frustrated many in the food allergy community. The growing use of sesame flour puts foods suddenly off-limits for consumers with a sesame allergy.”
According to Reddit, Turano is Olive Garden’s most-known breadstick supplier. You can buy the sticks online. Or if you live near Berwyn, Illinois, you can drop by the bakery.
But were they particularly good to begin with? Were they always hot, rubbery, garlic-laced hot dog buns?
As one commenter on the viral video wrote: “Was olive garden ever good or was I just young and impressionable?”
This question is fair but insulting. The breadsticks were that good. Soft, pillow-like in texture. Consistently flavorful. You’d dunk them in minestrone and be full by the entree because you just ate five.
“When you think of Olive Garden you think of BREADSTICKS! Why in the hell would they change their breadsticks? IM DEVASTATED,” the creator, Emily (@luludoll33), added in the caption.
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