There's yet another new refrigerated pudding product from Jell-O: Two "ice cream shop" flavors: orange and strawberry. Ordinarily, Mr. Tidbit would let this slip by, unmentioned -- just another couple of flavors. But he has to note that the six-pack of tubs totals not 24 ounces, as do the six-packs of other regular Jell-O refrigerated puddings, but 23.3 ounces: Instead of 4 ounces, each tub contains 3.88 ounces.Mr. Tidbit believes that until now the various Jell-O pudding tub products that have contained less than 4 ounces each have in some way not been part of the regular pudding lineup: They have been sugar-free or whipped or in premium-flavor three-packs. But he suspects that the 23.3-ounce six-packs of "ice cream shop" flavors are harbingers of 23.3-ounce six-packs of the regular Jell-O refrigerated puddings.
Tidbits: A little less pudding for more money
Also: Ice cream bars from Magnum (not the P.I.)
Perhaps you are saying "Who cares? Who could notice the missing 0.12 ounces in a tub?" Mr. Tidbit has two things to say about that: First, stop talking back to your newspaper or website. That's a slippery slope: Next you'll be talking back to voices in your head. And second, the 23.3-ounce six-pack, a 3 percent price increase, is another slippery slope. Do you remember the 7-ounce can of tuna (then the 6 1/4-ounce, and then 6-ounce can)? Now it's 5 ounces. Just saying.
Who's Magnum? Have you been wondering about the origin of the new Magnum brand of premium-price ice cream bars (ice cream on sticks coated in Belgian chocolate)? Mr. Tidbit is happy to help:
The Magnum bars come from Unilever, a global consumer-product giant like Kraft and Nestle, but somehow not as well known by name. Among Unilever's food brands are Lipton, Wish-Bone, Hellmann's, Knorr, Skippy, Bertolli, Ragu and Breyers.
Wait. If Unilever makes Breyers ice cream, why give the bars a new brand name? Well, notice the words "premium-price" back in the first paragraph. (Nestle makes both Edy's ice cream and Häagen-Dazs. Häagen-Dazs bars probably couldn't command their high price if they were just Edy's bars.)
AL SICHERMAN
The 23rd installment of the beer fest will take place Oct. 12 at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis.
