A video went viral when a user compared the ingredients of Walmart’s Great Value spices to Target’s Good & Gather spices.
TikToker Marco (@marco_nichols) filmed the comparison after reading the ingredients of some spices he’d purchased. The compare-and-contrast struck a chord with viewers.
Marco starts his video with his camera focused on three bottles of spices. Two bottles are Walmart‘s Great Value and one bottle is Target‘s Good & Gather.
“This why I can’t even f*ck with Great Value,” he says while he picks up a paprika from Target. Marco’s camera zooms onto the listed ingredients, showing how the only ingredient listed is paprika. “Normal paprika, bro. It only got paprika.”
After he picks up a second bottle. “Course, I bought the bullsh*t from Walmart.” Marco holds up the Great Value paprika: “Sh*t got silicon dioxide in it.”
However, the extra ingredient in the paprika didn’t concern him. “It’s this that’s blowing me,” he explains holding up a second bottle of Great Value. “Red chili flakes I’m not f*cking with it.” Per Medical News Now, “Silicon dioxide is generally safe as a food additive, though some agencies are calling for stricter guidelines about the quality and characteristics of the silicon dioxide found in foods.”
Marco reads the ingredients while holding the label close to the camera: “For nutritional information contact address above.”
“I’m about to throw this sh*t into the trash,” he concludes. “What is it? I don’t know.”
The TikTok video has reached 1 million views as of Friday afternoon.
@marco_nichols Im done wit greatvalue #greatvalue #fake #food #viral #fyp ♬ original sound – Marco
Some users argued that his complaints were groundless, explaining that red chili flakes don’t need to list their ingredients and that the chemical in the Great Value paprika is a common additive.
“Man where the f*ck the ingredient list on this bottle of water?? It says water on the front, but no list???” one user joked.
“It’s red pepper flakes unaltered so they don’t have to list ingredients because there’s one and it’s on the front,” another explained.
“I think the front tells you what’s in it,” a user replied.
“Buddy, the additives are so it doesn’t clump together and go bad as quick. It’s why Target’s is smaller,” a third user added, referring to chemical in the paprika.
Others sympathized with Marco’s worries about the lack of labeling.
“Not even a phone number, just an address? Do I really have to buy a stamp and send them a letter asking what’s in it,” a user said.
“That is wild! After I had my son I started checking labels more and you’ll be mortified when you start doing the same!” a user replied.
The Daily Dot reached out to Marco via TikTok comments and Walmart via email for further comment.
