Chocolate Pudding Disaster

A friend of mine, who was recovering from recent dental surgery, made an off-hand comment that her favorite brand of pudding was Swiss Miss. Aside from the the one time I (accidentally) made rice pudding, I don't really eat pudding. Why would I? My last recollection of pudding comes from the plastic snack packs that I pleadingly convinced a friend to trade to me during elementary school lunch and the infamous "pudding parties" that, so far, I have only experienced in the state of Michigan.

A little about the "pudding party", I've asked a few people and it seems to be a regional thing. Basically there's a gigantic vat of pudding, there's a party going on, you're supposed to bring your own cup, and the place ends up a mess. The gigantic pudding vat always seemed similar to what eventually became the chocolate fountain you see in the Golden Corral commercials, so I (wisely) stayed far far away.

Either way, my friend was somewhat insulted by my dismissive attitude on the higher qualities of pudding, so in order to better educate myself, I picked up a few samples at the supermarket.


Sample 1: Jello Chocolate Flavor

If the winner was determined based on on how many ingredients it has, then this is number 1. I count about 20 ingredients for the Jello brand! The flavor is pretty subdued, but at least it's not overpowered by fake chocolate taste. 5/10

Sample 2: Snack Pack Chocolate Flavor

Despite having been refrigerated for several hours, the pudding wasn't even remotely cold. Bad sign? Maybe they could use it as an insulating material in aerospace technologies?


Even though the Snack Pack has a shorter ingredient list than the Jello brand pudding, the taste is still overpowered by a distinct fake chocolate flavor. Maybe it's the Carrageenan? 4/10

Sample 3: Swiss Miss Chocolate Flavor

Basically tastes about the same as the Jello brand. 5/10

Sample 4: Zen Chocolate Flavor

This brand was actually pretty decent and is closest to what "real" pudding tastes like. It's made with almond milk and is soy/dairy/gluten free. Aside from our friend Carrageenan, the ingredient list doesn't seem to have any other long and unpronounceable names. 7/10

After trying a whopping four cups of pudding in a sitting, I'm pretty much ready to avoid pudding for another decade. In the meantime, does anyone want some free pudding cups? (Hope my co-workers like this stuff.) The store wouldn't let me buy them one at a time and at this point I really REALLY don't want to eat any more pudding.