Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Kitchen Basics used to be the most delicious chicken stock. When it got bought by McCormick in 2015, it seemed a little lighter, but still retained its essential character. With the newest box, the stock is now completely different. It smelled predominantly of celery and had lost all of its rich orangy yellow color. Looking at the ingredients, mushrooms have been completely eliminated, and there are now more salts (both sodium and potassium) than it used to have. Original ingredients: Chicken stock, chicken flavor, honey, vegetable stocks (carrot, onion, mushroom, celery), bay, thyme, pepper. 2015 McCormick ingredients: Chicken Stock, Vegetable Stock (Carrot, Onion, Mushrooms, And Celery), Natural Chicken Flavor, Honey, Salt, NATURAL FLAVOR (e.g. yeast extract containing MSG), And Spice And Herbs (Black Pepper, Bay Leaf, And Thyme). 2016 McCormick ingredients: chicken stock, natural chicken flavor, cooked vegetables (celery, carrot, onion), honey, spice and herbs (black pepper, bayleaf, thyme), and natural flavor. To go with these changes, the boxes have been getting progressively lighter, as the stock becomes progressively watered down, so that the color of the stock is now completely different. The new box is on the left in the attached photo. (Stocks appear darker in the two cup measuring cup than the one cup, so the difference in color is even more dramatic than appears in the photo). I went back to my store to return the unopened carton, and the manager found 10 remaining boxes in the back room of the older version, and I bought all of them. I plan to write to McCormick as they said to contact them if you are dissatisfied with the product. If enough people complain, maybe they would consider bringing back the older formula. For now, it is clear that these stocks are NOT worth the extra cost that I used to be willing to pay for Kitchen Basics.