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While you probably can’t get everything on your grocery list at Dollar Tree, you can certainly pick up some snacks, drinks, and frozen items at a steep discount. But just because these items are more affordable, it doesn’t mean they should go directly into your cart. In a March 2 YouTube video, popular food blogger and influencer Emmeline Mayline “Emmy” Cho (@emmymade) taste-tested a few popular snacks from Dollar Tree, highlighting her favorites and those she would definitely skip. Read on to find out which products she wasn’t a fan of, including one that “tastes like Pine-Sol.”
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Cho was not impressed with Kellog’s Froot Loops Cereal Straws, which retail at Dollar Tree for $1.25. While the package advertised that “They Are Back,” Cho noted that she’d never seen them before. The wafer straws are made in Froot Loops cereal flavors and are coated on the inside to protect them from disintegrating during use.
“You can drink your milk through them and then eat them?” Cho surmised in the video. “That’s pretty novel.”
She complimented the coloring of the straws, the “nostalgic smell,” and the fact that they actually worked when she used them to drink a glass of milk—but the texture and taste left much to be desired.
“The flavor is familiar, but it’s a little off,” she said after biting the green cereal straw. “This almost tastes like lemon Pine-Sol, like lemon household cleaner. It’s, like, a little bit more intense than I remember just regular Froot Loops being.”
Unfortunately, the other colors tasted similar, with the green tasting “the worst” in Cho’s opinion. “I wouldn’t buy these again… If you’re a fan of Froot Loops, then maybe this is for you,” she concluded.
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Cho also tried out three different Rap Snack Icon ramen instant noodles from Dollar Tree.
“I’ve seen Rap Snacks before, I’ve seen the chips at convenience stores, but I’ve never seen noodles before, so I found three flavors,” she explained, showing the beef prime rib, Louisiana hot & spicy chicken, and creamy chicken gumbo flavors.
The products were similar in size to the popular Cup Noodles brand, but they didn’t deliver in terms of taste.
Cho said she “wasn’t a fan” of the beef prime rib flavor, as the noodles were “plain” and the broth tasted like “Campbell’s Soup consommé.”
The creamy chicken gumbo was “even worse,” however. Cho said the noodles were “bland” and “plain,” while the soup didn’t really taste like gumbo. “It’s essentially flavorless, wow!” Cho said in surprise.
And while the Louisiana hot & spicy chicken had some “cayenne warmth,” the noodles “were not delicious” in Cho’s opinion.
“This does not remind me of Louisiana hot and spicy chicken at all, doesn’t remind me of a Crystal-style hot sauce or anything,” Cho said. “These were very disappointing. Keep your $1.25, just get some Maruchan at the grocery store and add your own hot sauce and bits of chicken or prime rib in them.”
Last on Cho’s list of skips was the official Pink Sauce. You might recognize the name from social media, as the sauce was originally made by TikToker Veronica Shaw, who uses the handle @chef.pii. The bottle Cho bought at Dollar Tree was advertised as the official Pink Sauce “as seen on TikTok and Instagram” and had @chef.pii’s endorsement.
But Cho was thrown off by the color of the sauce, which wasn’t a “beautiful, vivid fuschia” like it is on social media. This sauce is supposed to get that color due to the use of dragonfruit, which was listed on the sauce’s ingredients. However, it didn’t seem to have the same effect.
“Look at the color of the sauce,” Cho says, referencing the bottle in her hand. “It’s tan, it is not pink. Now, this is not expired…so maybe it’s been on the shelf for a while and the color is faded. I don’t know.”
Unfortunately, the sauce also didn’t live up to expectations when Cho dipped carrots in it.
“Wow, no, it’s very strongly coconutty—oh my goodness,” Cho said, pointing out that dragonfruit can’t account for this, as it has no inherent flavor. “There some garlic and vinegar in there too, a little bit of sweetness…this is more of a coconut sauce than anything. Don’t like it. Not at all…wow, terrible.”
Cho said she preferred her homemade version of the sauce, which came out “bright Pepto Bismol pink” thanks to her use of dragonfruit.
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If you are looking for a snack from Dollar Tree, Cho suggests Brim’s Pork Rinds, which she purchased in original, barbecue, salt & pepper, and red hot flavors.
She complimented the crunch of the original pork rinds, adding that they were “not too salty” and “not at all greasy with a nice porky flavor.”
The barbecue and salt & pepper pork rinds were “delicious” as well, but the red hot flavor stood out. According to Cho, these were “the most aggressively seasoned” of the four flavors—much like a Cheeto or Dorito—with the spice level of a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto.
“Of the four flavors I tried, I feel like this one delivers the biggest kind of umami flavor bomb, coated in this kind of snack powder, and tastes more like a conventional snack that you might find at the supermarket because the flavor is so intense,” she said.
