Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I bought a tub of organic whipped and it is normal. I also bought a tub of Blue Bonnet Light, which looked vegan to me, just in case the EB was bad. The Blue Bonnet tastes fine if you are looking for other options. I don't know about other margarines because EB and Blue Bonnet are my only choices around here.

Oh no, they added flax to the sticks too?! I do not want to risk winding up with fishy cake frosting.

EB, just change back. You are too much of a staple to have these problems.

Yeah, I bought some sticks and noticed the same taste/smell. We need a PPK-run petition to get them to change back to the original recipe.

I just got a new tub of the original with flax and it tastes fine and smells completely neutral. So that argues in favor of the fishy tubs being part of a bad batch.

thank goodness. can you share your batch code?

Assuming that's the string of letters/numbers after the best-by date, it's L491 09:06

I was nervous to use it for ganache after reading this thread, but it was the only kind I could get my hands on. I ate it spread melty on toast and non-melty on bread before I cleared it for birthday cake. :)

it includes the best by date too. <3

I'm wondering if it's in part due to mishandling of the product before it gets to you. I used to work in a big chain grocery store, and I know that a lot of temperature sensitive stuff gets left out a lot longer than it should, and who knows what happens during transportation. Flax can go rancid pretty quickly if mishandled, so even if a batch of Earth Balance leaves tasting and smelling great, it might be going bad by the time it's purchased by some people.

Best by date is Jan 0213.

I'm thinking pb's probably right and the product is leaving EB just fine but the flax is going rancid at some point during transport or storage on the retail end.

weird! i am almost finished a tub i've had for a month or longer, and i have an unopened one in my fridge...i hope it doesn't taste fishy :(
lately i've just been using super small amounts if it in frosting, so i haven't tasted fishies yet

I found a 480 pound tuna in my tub of eb. But I think it's just a one off mistake.

yeah, and i think EB would be best served by reverting to their apparently more shelf-stable old formula. i don't think you can reasonably expect every retailer who carries your product to mollycoddle it.

I use the organic whipped EB... A bit saltier than the original, but I've never come across the fishy smell/taste you all speak of.




And thanks for the link to the vegan butter recipes! I'm definitely going to make some. :)

This was what I was thinking too. And the letter I got back from EB this morning kinda confirmed it:




I usually get the whipped version, but last week they only had the original. I thought that it tasted weird just because I wasn't used to that version, but now I think something was up.

I had this happen for the first time about 4 weeks ago and thought maybe it was just the tub I'd purchased and worried that they had changed something in the ingredients. It was unbearable for me so we threw it out. The next few I bought were just fine, but I just bought 3 tubs because my husband's birthday is this week and I have a million things I need it for (food allergies are the reason we buy this stuff). I opened it up and smelled it because of that one time and it smelled funny again, so I tasted it and it tastes funny again. I looked at the label for the date and opened one of the others and it smelled and tasted funny, too. Same label. I think that some of you may be right about the fish oil. That is very scary and dangerous! Thank goodness my son's allergic to only 6 of the top eight, fish not being one of them. I actually found this board because I was trying to see if others have had the same problem. So glad it's not just me!

The batches I bought seem to be fine. I hope I will continue to be fortunate.

Not fish oil, flax oil gone bad. Tastes and smells fishy but contains no fish.

For the record I have not had a fishy-tasting container of Earth Balance. I buy it about every month or two.

I will chime in hoping EB ditches the flax. We're big girls and boys, if we want flax oil we can find that by itself and buy it and even add it to our baked goods. I am so tired of food products trying to be all things to all people. It's like a plague among vegan foods right now that they must also be gluten-free, soy-free, superfood-enhanced, sprouted, fortified, etc. Enough!

Yes, while testing our chocolate on a non vegan friend she tasted a metallic taste in the fillings EB was in. She noticed this on two different occasions.

Where would I find the batch #? I'm an omni who bought some so I could try nutritional yeast "cheez" sauce (I'm curious about vegan cuisine :o). Can't knock something until I try it. I may make the conversion later. I dislike cooking meat anyways.), and I dipped a finger in ( I've Al bought it before and liked it. Was a little less spreadable than Country Crock, but delicious) and was a bit shocked. Also, my apologies for so many edits. Brand new and trying to figure everything out.

The batch number is the group of numbers listed with the Best By date.

I finally noticed the fishy flavor in my latest tub. I'm at least glad to hear that it's a problem and not the way it's supposed to be. I used to always buy soy garden and I'm thinking maybe I should switch back. I'm not even sure what the difference between regular and soy garden is, but maybe soy garden doesn't have flax oil.

I wish stores carried that. Before I moved, Willow Run was all I used for baking. It was so cheap at Kroger.

i used to use willow run. it made the best chocolate chip cookies. (but i'm kind of afraid to eat trans fats now, so i haven't bought it in a while.)

i honestly think they're pushing the fishifying responsibility off to the stores unfairly. what are the chances that all of a sudden retailers across the country are handling the tubs improperly. i think it had either happened in the factory or possibly during transit.

they didn't say it was definitely the stores. they said "in either mixing, shipping or handling," so it could have happened anywhere along the line.