Valley Fresh White and Dark Chunk Chicken in Water - 1 Can (10 oz)

Comments about Valley Fresh White and Dark Chunk Chicken in Water - 1 Can (10 oz):

I have used this formerly terrifc product for over 10 years. It was the only canned chicken sold in North America that contained no food additives. It was just chicken, water, and sea salt.

As of this month( March 2011) new labelling and contents have appeared. The label now proclaims "Better Flavor".

The product now contains 50% more sodium - at a time when many manufacturers are either cutting back on salt content or introducing "reduced sodium" vesions of their tradtional products.

Worse yet, the "Better Flavor" is achieved by adding "rice starch", "vegetable starch" ( a call to the company revealed that this is potato starch) and "chicken broth" - which contains, among other listed ingredients, "natural flavor" (derived from corn - an increasingly common food allergen ).

This product is now useless to me as I am highly sensitive to corn products. While the label still claims the product is gluten free, which was pretty much guaranteed before, since it had only chicken water and sea salt in it, this claim is now somewhat suspect in as much as with the introduction of each new additive, there is the possiblitly of cross contamination in the prodution of the various grain based starches and "flavors"

The company needs to re-think this change. What made them unique and a mainstay for people on specialized diets, was their plain and simple good food. Now they are little differnt from every other canned meat that is adulterated with unecessary and unwanted food additives.

They can kiss goodbye all their former customers who are allergic to or sensitive to corn, processed starches, who are on the Atkins or no grain diets, who have arthritis which is exacerbated by potatoes, and who avoid processed food additives in general.

The company also needs to be more up front in their new labelling and say "potato starch" rather than "vegetable starch" AND in bold print say "Contains Corn" to warn customers who are allergic to corn products that they probably should now avoid the product.

Hopefully this "Better Flavor" change will be about as successful as New Coke" and we will see Valley Fresh "Classic" chicken in a year so.

Comments about Valley Fresh White and Dark Chunk Chicken in Water - 1 Can (10 oz):

Just add carrots-celery-onion-and canned chicken to a pot of water and let simmer 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and you have the best fast comfort chicken soup you can imagine. Even my mother-in-law thought it was made from scratch!!!