Walmart Issues Nationwide Recall on 850,000 Water Bottles After 2 People Blinded
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Walmart recalls 850,000 Ozark Trail 64-ounce Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles due to serious impact and laceration hazards. According to the report, 'the lid can forcefully eject, posing serious impact and laceration hazards, when a consumer attempts to open the capped bottles after food, carbonated beverages or perishable beverages, such as juice or milk, are stored inside over time.'
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Walmart has received three reports of injuries because of the lid "forcefully popping off" of the bottle when opened. All three customers who reported injuries were hit in the face, with two of them reporting permanent vision damage due to eye injuries.
The water bottles are silver with a one-piece black screw cap lid. The original product package displays a model number of 83-662, but the model number is not printed on the water bottle itself.
Owners of this product should discontinue use and can return the bottle to a Walmart store for a full refund.
Up Next:Walmart Issues Nationwide Recall on 850,000 Water Bottles After 2 People Blinded first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 11, 2025
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27 Products That Might Make Cooking Feel More Doable
A Dash rice maker if the biggest barrier to you eating an at-home stir fry is your fear of burning the rice. Again. BUT SUCH NEWS: You no longer have to be afraid, because this handy little gadget will make perfectly fluffy rice EVERY TIME! As a former Rice Freaker-Outer, I promise this is the answer to all your kitchen wishes. Promising reviews: "Does an amazing job cooking my sushi rice. Had it for a year now and it's still going strong. Does not burn your food simply keeps it warm. I constantly forget I'm cooking something and will normally burn my food by accident but this little cooker has been a life saver for me and my food." —Deisi Cervantez"This mini rice cooker is small but mighty—like the kitchen version of a chihuahua. I blink and suddenly there's perfect rice and zero judgment for my single-person meal. It's like having a personal chef who only knows one recipe, but nails it every time." —Ce CeGet it from Amazon for $21.95 (available in five colors). A folding silicone splatter guard to keep you safe from splattering oils and popping veggies because cooking is hard enough without dodging around your kitchen. Bonus points: This doubles as a trivet so you can set your fresh-off-the-burner dishes down without burning your countertops and furniture. I LOVE that this one folds in half for easy storage and checking on whatever I'm cooking while still protecting from the splatters. It's machine washable, too, so I just chuck it in the dishwasher when I'm done (lovingly) abusing it. Easy peasy. Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in two colors). A Pioneer Woman stand mixer so you can mixy-mixy like a pro, but without shelling out the wad of cash you see for That Big Brand. (Lots of reviewers have both and love this one MORE!) Whether you're making pastry dough for pizza, pot pies, or a lil' after-dinner dessert, you and your tired arms be thrilled to have this mixer in your kitchen corner. Promising reviews: "The mixer is as good or better than my daughter-in-laws Kitchen Aide, and more included attachments. I'm just thrilled with my pretty, heavy duty beauty." —Kristen"LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!! I have a kitchen aid stand mixer and this one is so much better. Smaller and lighter to lift and put on counter, but just as powerful!!!! Love the clear guard to keep contents from spilling out while mixing. Highly recommend!!!!" —JillGet it from Walmart for $129. An Our Place 6-in-1 Wonder Oven my fam is personally in love with because it does everything (toast, roast, air fry, and bake) while taking up the world's smallest footprint on our counter. We've had other combo ovens in the past, but we use this one so much more because it makes it SO EASY to get what you need done fast, in part because the dials are analog, not digital. (No school like the old school when it comes to speed!) Look, I love digital stuff as much as the next thirty-something, but sometimes there are just too many options on those tiny screens and you want to just turn a dial and get it done now without having to scroll through one hundred choices, thanks. Plus, I SWEAR it cooks faster than our others did, and the reviewer below agrees!Promising review: "This oven replaced a 25+ year old toaster oven for us. The only downside was the learning curve for how much faster and more efficiently this cooked things! Chose it for the wide variety of functions - we didn't have an air fryer, and as said our toaster was old enough to vote and drink - as well as the looks ("like a grown-up easy bake oven"). It fits great in our kitchen, very well made and pleasant to use, and it works great as well." —William RothGet it from Amazon for $140+ (available in two sizes and four colors). A Kitchen Mama automatic can opener that'll speed up those casseroles that involve a bunch of canned veggies and cans of broth without requiring another counter-based gadget. This one works with a quick click of the button, so you can totally do other prep things while this does the opening work for you! A Cospro 3-in-1 wireless charging stainless-steel grinder set I will PERSONALLY never go without again because it is one less barrier to me *thinking* about cooking and me *actually* cooking. The one-handed grinding is a real game changer because I can season with freshly ground salt and pepper simultaneously and move on to the next step. Plus, it holds a charge FOREVER, so even if you don't want to keep the base plugged in all the time, it's good to go. This gadget is SO sleek, y'all, and it works as good as it looks! Promising review: "I purchased the 3-in-1 Salt and Pepper Grinder Set. I like the modern and clean design of the grinders. They feel sturdy and well made and look nice sitting on my countertop. It was very easy to fill each grinder with my preferred spices and seasonings. I really like that you can adjust the coarseness of the grinders. They have helped speed up food preparation as I no longer have to manually grind my various salts and peppers." —GlobeTrotter77Get it from Amazon for $55.96 (also available in sets of one, two, and five). A Masterbuilt portable charcoal grill and smoker if your ideal dinner is smoked meat and grilled veggies, but your ideal aesthetic does ~not~ include a hulking piece of metal chilling permanently in your yard or spending $$$ to have it dashed to your door. This handy-dandy grill/smoker comes with a removable cart so you can take it just about anywhere, including your tiny porch. You're welcome. Promising review: "This baby was super easy to set up and get running. I love the heavy duty build and design is simple and effective. We're going to be testing it out on the boat next weekend and I will report a review again to share our story!" —Deep Creek OutfitterGet it from Walmart for $335.55 or from Masterbuilt for $329.99. A breakfast sandwich maker that's so fast and easy, it basically means you're ENCOURAGED to have breakfast for dinner whenever you want, which gets you back to your fave TV spot all the faster! A hand-powered chopper if you can't be bothered to find an empty outlet because you've gotta finish dinner and rush back to that DIY project you're finishing up. (Or your hot, morally gray book crush. No judgment.) A rotating pizza oven if homemade pizza is on the menu tonight (and many nights thereafter). This rotates to evenly cook homemade OR frozen pizza and saves up to 60% of the energy of using the Big Bad Oven... which also takes forever to preheat, let's be honest. Reviewers cook everything on this, not just pizza. A lot of them use it as a substitute air fryer and love how easy it is to store. And if pizza is what's for dinner, don't forget to throw some Mike's Hot Honey in your cart to drizzle on the top. (You're welcome in advance if you haven't tried this life hack.)Promising reviews: "I use it to make pizza, corn dogs, tater tots, chicken stripes, and almost anything else that you would have use your oven for and it cooks things faster than your oven. 😋" —Tonia O."We first saw it at a friend's home and had to try it. It is faster and more efficient than heating up the oven for frozen pizzas, which we add additional toppings to. It heats from above AND below, which turns out not only to be great for frozen pizzas but also for small bites, appetizers, and other items like canned cinnamon rolls. Best of all, it is amazing at reheating leftover pizza to practically like the first time, with a crispy crust and hot cheese — so much better than the soggy, limp microwave reheating. Now, we LOVE leftover pizza." —FigswayGet it from Amazon for $84.04 (available in two colors). Or a brand new splurge-worthy propane rotating stone pizza oven from All-Clad, the company that has been making stellar bonded cookware in Pennsylvania for over half a century. (You've for CERTAIN drooled over their pans.) This ultra-compact magician of a gadget means you'll have evenly cooked pizza in less than two minutes, just like in a traditional brick oven, but without needing to live in a pizza joint to get it. See it ~doing the thing~ in this TikTok vid and try to resist the urge to turn your kitchen into Insert Your Name Here's Pizzeria. Get it from All-Clad for $999.99 (originally $1,299.99). A super simple cookbook from Your Barefoot Neighbor so you can make a meal that feels cozy and doable, even on your emotionally overdrawn Tuesdays. Don't forget your handy cookbook holder, too! Check out his TikTok here! In a sea of "fresh tomatoes hand grown in your garden is best" kinda chefs, Matthew is here to champion the, "Eh. It'll be fine from a can and still taste great" method, and I ADORE HIM FOR reviews: "The bomb-digity of easy cooking! Absolutely the lazy cooks cookbook. I believe cooking is a waste of time and I'd rather fold laundry or wash dishes then cook. This book contains the best most delicious short cuts! Run and get it!!!" —D. Stansberry"This book is perfect! Easy meals, offers lots of variety, and every recipe has a picture! I made the Hawaiian Pork immediately and it's delicious. Real food, simple ingredients, big flavors. I'm going to start on page 1, and make every single one. Can't wait. Yum!!!" —ChubbymuggleGet it from Amazon for $14.99+ (available in paperback, hardback, spiral-bound, and e-book). An electric tea kettle you can use for making a pot of tea, a bowl of your favorite instant ramen or oatmeal, or for speeding up your "watched pot never boils" time by heating it in the kettle first! This one includes the ability to schedule your kettle, meaning it's one less thing to do when compiling all your meal prep goodies in the kitchen. Great Jones is a woman-run, New York-based small business that wants equip and empower you to cook at home — and make your kitchen your happy place. I *personally* have a couple of their items (shoutout to my impossible-to-cook-in-without-smiling mustard casserole dish) and let me tell you: The quality is simply stunning across the reviews: "Excellent kettle. Heats quickly pours great looks fantastic and comes with nice extra features. The scheduled heat-up time alone makes this worth the back significantly on the routine time in the morning." —Anonymous"Five star form AND function! It's just perfect! It's technologically savvy and drop dead gorgeous. So easy to set up and use. I love the temperature hold feature…game changer!" —AnonymousGet it from Great Jones Goods for $225 (also available in a limited edition here). A microwave panini press that'll fulfill your grilled cheese and tomato soup hankering in a jiff. Be sure to life-hack yourself and grab some Campbell's microwavable soup because, again, this is supposed to be quick and easy. A Black + Decker air fryer if you need a quick side of fries, mozzarella sticks, or anything else that needs a FAST (but crispy!) turnaround. We use this all the time for my kiddo's emotional support chicken nuggets when we're trying new foods, and it's perfect because it truly is a "program and leave it" situation while everything else is cooking. Don't forget your air fryer liners for even easier cleanup. I bought these and they fit PERFECTLY in this model!Promising review: "I bought this because my old air fryer stopped working. I used it almost every day. It was my favorite appliance. I say all this because I did not know an air fryer could be even better and this one is. It's amazing. First off it's so quiet, I didn't even know it was on it first. It cooks incredibly fast.. much faster than my old one that I already thought was fast. Food comes out perfect. Even crispier. I can't vouch for its longevity but it's a stellar air fryer. Lots of bang for your buck. The only complaint I have is that the drawer is a tiny bit sticky but not enough to deduct any stars or want a different model. Buy it. You won't regret it." —Julie HallGet it from Amazon for $54.39+ (available in four sizes). A fast-prep kitchen slicer because faster can also mean safer! Spare your fingers (and your precious not-cooking time) by cutting chicken, tomatoes, and other weirdly hard-to-slice foods with ease. A rapid ramen cooker for those nights when a bowl of ramen would really hit the spot, but lots of prep time would not. A rapid fruit and veggie divider that'll cut everything from berries to carrots into four lengthwise quarters for the perfect snacking, cooking, and girl dinner size. A silicone clip-on colander if one of your fam's main food groups is mac 'n' cheese and one of your main food groups is making your life easier. Promising reviews: "I hated digging for a colander every time I wanted to drain my kid's noodles. Now I just reach for this clip on the pot and strain. So much more convenient." —Melissa"Super easy to use and convenient with all my pots. Has made the pasta and grease straining process faster and cleaner. Ended up buying a couple more for family and friends!" —AshwoGet it from Amazon for $11.97+ (available in seven colors). A HelloFresh everything-you-need meal kit subscription if you would like to decrease your grocery shopping trips, simplify your meal planning, AND change up the four things you know how to make. HEAR ME OUT. I — like you — have heard the podcast ads forever and kinda just rolled my eyes, BUT I AM A CHANGED WOMAN. My partner signed us up on a whim and now we... eat vegetables? NIGHTLY. And they're delicious and easy enough that I, a simpleton, can make them??? I could go on, but just trust me on this one: Absolutely worth the chore-saving hype and then some. We spend wayyy less at the grocery store per week because so many meals are "already taken care of" via HelloFresh. I like to lay out the recipes at the beginning of each week and use my best Mufasa voice to tell my family, "Everything the light touches... is our dinner." The best part? The recipes are divided up into individual bags so I can just grab one out of the fridge and get to gettin' on making dinner even if I have no brain cells left by the end of the day. Oh, and did I mention it's all delivered directly to our door (in the best recyclable packaging, I might add)? ~Perfection~.Get it from HelloFresh starting at $21.96+ per box (originally $56.95+; available for two, four, or six people, and with two, three, four, five, or six recipes per week). A microwave pasta maker since carb loading shouldn't have to mean "dish loading" when you're done prepping. This handy dandy pasta maker comes with a straining lid, so you don't even have to mess with a colander, and you will have your pasta done before your kid can finish two full Bluey episodes. A microwave potato bag that's both functional and adorably feels like tucking your wee lil' potato into a sleeping bag. It'll also save you the trouble of heating your whole house up with an oven for one small tuber. These bags can also be used for sweet potatoes and corn!Promising review: "I gave these as a gift after buying for myself. These eliminate the waste of energy making potatoes in the oven. I am using every possible product to eliminate having to turn on my oven and these bags are at the top of the list. The people I gifted these to were really pleased with how easy and well they worked. And having a baked potato in under 10 minutes sure beats an hour in the oven." –Jacqueline Get a two-pack from Amazon for $8.49. A self-stirring multi-cooker for those of us whose grown-up version of a fairy godmother would be a private chef. This dream machine uses an automatic paddle to shred meats and stir soups and stews so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time doing literally anything else. Promising reviews: "Works as advertised. Made apple butter without it sticking. Cleaned super easy, basically rinsed it out with some soapy water. No scrubbing." —Elizabeth"This is going to save hours of my life. Caramelized onions perfectly. Every 5-10 minutes I'd scrape down the sides so it's not 100% hands-free but it's way less hands-on. Yeeeessssss." —HGet it from Walmart for $51.47 (originally $99) An 8-quart Instant Pot and air fryer if you've loved the original Instant Pot Duo and want an upgrade. Reviewers say this newfangled version heats faster and has more functions that will help you cook a whole meal here instead of in your oven. Set it, forget it, and still end up with a meal that tastes like you tried! Promising review: "Wonderful all-arounder. Have no regrets buying this product. I have been using Instant Pot for over five years, and this is my second one. The product is high quality and works perfectly without any issues. The air fryer is amazing and easy to use. You can feel the new features and differences compared to Duo if you have used the Duo before, and it feels like a pretty big upgrade." —DeepakGet it from Target for $199.99 (originally $269.99). A Souper Cubes freezer tray truly made to get you back to your couch in record time because ~meal prep~ is an investment in your glorious just-watch-TV-and-rot recharge time. Each cube has enough room for a cup of pasta sauce or soup so that you can make a big ol' batch, save the extras, and run your microwave panini press for a whirl, and voilà! Dinner is served! A hybrid digital food scale and measuring cup for those more ~precise~ recipes that are delicious but painstaking. This will help cut down on the time it takes to make sure you're putting the right amount of ingredients in those yummy baked goods you're making for the next big friend hangout. A pair of cute bat kitchen shears because my life was changed when I realized you can use scissors on anything: Chicken breasts, those annoying stumpy parts of lettuce, shrimp tails, tomatoes. Nothing is stopping you from using scissors instead of a knife and I swear it can be so much quicker. Promising review: "Not only are these the perfect kitchen scissors, but basically the perfect everything scissors! I use these 24/7 since I got them. Not to mention how CUTE they are! They cut amazingly and are sooooo worth the money." —Matthew Z. Get them from Amazon for $11.35.
CNET
8 hours ago
- CNET
Lost Packages Could Be Yours for a Steal: I Found 4 Places You Can Buy Them Online
Bidding on others' lost packages is a pasttime that you might want to take up soon. Sarah Tew/CNET I hate when it happens, and I bet you do as well: You order something online (maybe from Amazon, or maybe not), you wait, and you wait, and you wait a little longer, and eventually you accept the frustrating reality that your package was lost in the mail. As annoying as this can be for the folks losing their packages, there's a silver lining out there for the rest of the world. Often times when things get lost in the postal system, or are even just left unclaimed by anyone for one reason or another, they can end up being sold off through various outlets after a certain amount of time has passed, with some outlets receiving these wayward parcels from the likes of Amazon, Walmart, Target, the US Postal Service and more. Just how often are packages getting displaced into these resale markets? According to a 2023 study from an estimated 1.7 million of them are disrupted on their way through the system every day in the US. The strict number of these that might end up getting resold is almost certainly lower, since that number includes packages that are either lost or stolen, and stolen items (probably) aren't making their way to the same places as lost ones. However that shakes out, the numbers at least seem consistent over the years, with a 2020 study by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York also estimated the daily number to be around 1.7 million. That's all well and good, but you might be asking yourself, why would you even want to bother buying someone else's lost mail? Well, consider the variety: for as much you might encounter random junk of no interest to you on these resale markets, you might also stumble onto surprisingly valuable items as well. Some outlets also sell a lot of these unclaimed items in bulk orders, and you won't know what's in one until you get it. Who doesn't love adding a little mystery into life? Oh, and did I mention how often these resold items can be dirt cheap? I know for sure you'll want a little of that in your life. For all the details about where to shop for these unclaimed items online, keep reading, and for more shopping tips, check out our guide to the 18 Amazon Prime perks you can use even when Prime Day isn't around. When do USPS and Amazon resell undelivered packages? Both USPS and Amazon retain undelivered items for a period of time before designating them for resale, with the latter also taking steps to ensure the quality of the item first. Under USPS policy, a lost or forgotten parcel can be sent off to auction if it hasn't been claimed within 90 days. For Amazon, the company similarly waits 90 days for a undelivered parcel to be claimed before sending it off for resale, but before that can be done, an employee must open the package and inspect the item, making sure it is in good enough condition to justify being sold again. How to buy or bid on unclaimed mail packages online For many unclaimed packages, you can do much of the work right from your home. Visit and you can choose which retailer you'd like to view products from, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, Home Depot, Overstock and Wayfair. This site operates on an auction format, prompting interested customers to place competing bids on the lots they want. You won't just find items left unclaimed in the postal system on this site, as it's also where these retailers send items that have been returned for one reason or another. With some digging, you may be able to find desirable items at bargain rates. For example, one featured lot I found near the start of July included 10 Sony over-ear noise-canceling headphones that had been returned to an unnamed electronics retailers. With a total MSRP value of around $3,200, the top bid as of July 1 was around $678, a roughly 78% markdown. The only risk involved in the process for a lot like that one is the fact that none of the returned items have been tested, so you're out of luck if any are defective. While you might only want one set of headphones, at this level of bulk savings, you might be able to give away a few as gifts and make some money back selling the rest yourself. You might also check a similar outlet, 888Lots, which sells bulk lots of similar mystery items and individual liquidated products, though you will have to go through a free registration process. For packages or items retained by the postal service, check out which handles a variety of government surplus resales. This includes consumer goods that might have gotten turned around in the mail, like clothing, beauty products, sports equipment or video games. You can also find items that fall into a whole load of other categories pulled from other government agencies, allowing people with deeper pockets to bid on farming equipment, aircraft or even garbage trucks. The viral nature of these unclaimed mail lots has also led to the creation of With its colorful site design and motto "A Little Fun Never Hurt Anyone," FunDelivered taps into the thrill of taking a gamble on these lost packages, exclusively selling customers "mystery boxes" full of unclaimed items. The store restocks with new bundles every Friday at 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT). Try buying these unclaimed mail items in person If you'd rather see items in person, check for unclaimed package at a local swap meet. Swap Madness allows you to browse vendors that might potentially have these items for sale, broken down by state and city. These listings are not a guarantee that you'll find an unclaimed package sale at any given time, so it's advised that you call ahead to find out before heading over to one. For more, check out our guide to getting the most out of a Target Circle membership.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
15 Popular Jarred Salsas, Ranked Worst To Best
Tex-Mex and Mexican food are staples in my home, so salsa is something I keep tucked in the fridge at all times. However, the versatility of this store-bought condiment extends far beyond just regional dishes. You can slather it on steaks, use it to upgrade a frozen breakfast burrito, or even elevate basic baked potatoes with it. Most grocery stores have no shortage of jarred salsas available, and I can confirm that not all of them are worth buying. The worst part? You can't tell a lot about the salsa just by looking at it -- you have to sample a ton of different brands to find one that fits your version of "the perfect salsa." In order to help expedite the process and make salsa shopping easier, I headed to my local Walmart, bought an array of popular salsa brands and styles, and sampled them before ranking each one from worst to best. The highest-ranking salsas boasted fresh, balanced flavors and could elevate almost any food they're eaten with. Read more: 12 Store-Bought Buffalo Sauces, Ranked Worst To Best Chi-Chi's Restaurant Style Salsa looks and smells just like baby vomit. Meanwhile, this salsa's flavor is about as inoffensive as inoffensive gets. There's absolutely no spice whatsoever, meaning an absence of both heat and flavor enhancers like cumin, and it's grossly under-salted. Spice plays an important role in salsa, acting as the bridge between the ingredients and layering on the flavor nuances that make salsa so delectable in the first place. Chi-Chi's seemingly just cracked open a can of diced tomatoes, stirred in some (not a lot) of coarsely chopped onion, and let it meld together on a shelf for a few months. I'm honestly in awe of the fact that onions and what I think were peppers could sit in a vat of tomato juice, yet still maintain an unsettling degree of crunchiness. Why anyone would buy this salsa, I do not know. It's mild in the worst way possible. I didn't think I would be able to describe a salsa as "fishy," but here I am. I can't tell exactly what was going on with this Herdez Salsa Casera, which the brand claims is its most popular offering. It's supposed to blend "homemade" flavors together, but I doubt anyone would want to take ownership of that moniker. It's weirdly savory in a way salsa shouldn't be -- almost like it was made with bouillon. The jar doesn't list it as an ingredient, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was drinking tomato-flavored chicken broth ... yuck. This salsa is too soupy and liquidy to be useful for any application. It would turn even the crunchiest of tortilla chips into tortilla soup, and it would be sucked up by a resting steak rather than sitting artfully on top of it. There are very few things this salsa does right, which causes it to fall to the bottom of the pile. Walmart's Medium Salsa was one of two refrigerated products that I tasted for this review. This large container of salsa is reasonably priced for its size, and I appreciated having a medium-heat option to try. Its appearance was murky and dark. Instead of being a fresh, ripe tomato color, it was more of a merlot-adjacent burgundy color. And as I stirred it, I was pleasantly surprised by the ratio of liquid to "stuff"; it was just chunky enough to be dippable but had enough water to allow it to be used as a sauce. I wasn't expecting the heat to come out of this salsa like it did. The first bite was mild and unassuming, but that flavor slowly started to build on my tongue and at the back of my throat. If this was "medium," what the heck was "spicy" supposed to be like? Maybe my heat tolerance has gone down, but I think this salsa had a little more spice than it should have. There was also no fresh flavor to counteract that warmth, and the only discernible flavor I could detect (besides the obvious tomato) was the poorly cut cilantro -- with its stems still intact. I've had Late July tortilla chips before, and I can't say that I was impressed by them. This salsa was just another strike against the brand. When I unscrewed the lid, I noticed that this salsa had more of a gazpacho-like texture to it than a salsa. It's very wet, and it's hard to tell what kind of ingredients are inside of it, aside from the organic tomatoes. This salsa smelled like I had just taken a whiff of a bottle of distilled white vinegar. It had an almost eye-watering level of acidity, which dissipated as soon as I took a bite. It's replaced by a soapy flavor that's not quite cilantro but is in the same family. After surveying my spice cabinet and inhaling jars of spices trying to find it, I decided that the closest one was celery -- weird for a salsa, I know. This mild salsa isn't at all spicy, and it's garlicky enough to just be passable (which was not the case for the brands that ranked lower than it). I just wish I could pull out more flavors besides the overwhelming celery-like bite. Great Value Organic Mild Salsa had me fooled. The adorable drawings on the outside make you feel like you just bought a jar from the farmers' market and not from your local Walmart. It gives off very little on the nose -- I could pull out some tomatoey element, but not much other than that. As I stirred it with a spoon, I found very few ingredients that were intact, aside from the occasional pepper seed. It was gloopy, dark-colored, and a little too wet and unscoopable for my liking. The flavor is like the aroma: tomato-forward, but otherwise nondescript. I don't see a reason why anyone would go out of their way to buy it, seeing as it doesn't offer any punchy or unique flavors that would enhance a burrito, salsa con queso, or other dish. It's salty but lacks any sort of umami complexity or freshness. Acid is an important component of a salsa, but if you're too heavy-handed with it, it can leave your palate stinging. This acidic, abrasive flavor was very out of balance in Great Value's Thick & Chunky Mild Salsa, and after one bite, I felt like I had enough. When I popped the lid and took a whiff, I could tell that the acidity was going to be a problem -- it was like inhaling straight vinegar. Eating it was like eating straight vinegar, too; I don't know if Great Value just used really bad tomatoes or if they read the recipe wrong when it came to how much vinegar to add. I could see the green jalapeños in this salsa, but I couldn't taste them. The only flavor that was easily identifiable besides the acidity was the saltiness, which was much more prominent than in other brands that I sampled. It has flavor, which is more than I could say for its organic version -- it just wasn't the right flavor. Picante sauce and salsa are in the same family, and honestly, if you served me this and told me it was salsa, I wouldn't have questioned you. Pace's version is made with chopped vegetables rather than chunky ones (not that many of the salsas on this list took the chunky approach anyway), though I don't think that did its texture any favors. The picante sauce smelled eerily like cocktail sauce, and I fear I could have eaten it with shrimp and not noticed the difference. The flavors aren't particularly bright, novel, or fun. The onion isn't particularly present, nor do the jalapeños do anything for its heat level or otherwise. All I taste are the tomatoes, which are underdeveloped and bitingly acidic. It lacks the balance of the higher-ranked salsas, which is why it scored relatively low -- but not at the bottom -- of this ranking. The "uniquely different" label on this jar of Mateo's Gourmet Salsa made me think of the drink Moxie, which is known for being "distinctively different." Honestly, Moxie and this salsa have a lot in common; while they are made with the same ingredients as other brands, there is one element within them that consumers will love or vehemently hate. For Moxie, it's the gentian root extract. In the case of this salsa, it's the chunks of crushed garlic like you'd find in a squeeze bottle. The garlic flavor isn't very poignant compared with the other ingredients, but the texture is at the forefront of your palate. It's, frankly, odd and gives this salsa a strange mouthfeel. I could have done without it, especially considering it's the only prominent part of this salsa. The tomato, onion, and spice notes are underwhelming, and there were some bites that were oddly toothsome, like I was chewing on a stem or part of a pepper I shouldn't have. The color of this casera-style salsa is concerning, especially compared to the bright reds of every other sauce on this list. After trying Herdez, I was also worried about another run-in with a casera-style salsa. However, Siete did nail the flavor of this salsa. It brought an almost tomatillo-like profile, with roasty notes. It was deeply savory -- more salsa-like than broth-like, though, which I appreciated. I also could taste the subtle yet still-present pop of lemon juice, which was not as abrasive as the vinegar-forward salsas on this list. Siete's main issue is its texture. It's very pulpy, to the point that I was so distracted by the soggy, cold pieces of tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños that I couldn't focus my full and undivided attention on its flavor. It may be less obvious if you pour it on something, like eggs or a burrito, but I wouldn't eat this salsa with chips. I am a big fan of cumin -- in moderation. If you don't like this earthy and citrusy spice, I would recommend leaving On The Border's Mild Salsa off of your shopping list because it delivers a very flavorful and full-bodied punch of it. This was one of the few salsas that really delivered on flavor, almost to the point that the cumin eclipsed the tomatoes. I forgot I was eating salsa for a moment and thought I was biting into a spoonful of a fancy, tomato-based Indian condiment. The cumin does hide the tomatoes well, and after a few bites, I started to think this addition was purposeful. The tomatoes taste like the ones you get from the grocery store in the dead of winter; they're devoid of any and all flavor, and there's not enough onion or garlic to carry the flavor. While I appreciate that there was something else besides sad tomatoes in this jar, the execution of this mild salsa was otherwise underwhelming. I didn't have high hopes for Tostitos, despite its prominence on store shelves. The first thing I noticed about this salsa was that it came out of this jar oddly like ketchup: gloopy and gelatinous. It's one of the thicker salsas on this list and has an attractive yet unsettling dark red color that gave me pause. It doesn't smell like much, but when I took a bite, I was met with a hodgepodge of flavors that was anything but "not much." This salsa is very sugary. It's something I didn't pick up until I tasted all of these brands back to back. Like some of the other lower-ranked brands, the tomatoes were surprisingly crunchy and still intact and were ushered in by some piquant notes. It toed the line between being a mild and medium salsa, and I figured that Tostitos (and its parent company, Frito-Lay) would be a little more conservative in this department so as not to offend young and spice-averse eaters. It's not fresh, and it's not very good, but it's passable if you need something to eat with chips. The first thing I said when I took a whiff of this salsa was, "Okay, I'm listening." On the nose, it has an almost smoky profile with notes of ancho chiles, roasted red pepper, cumin, and something sweet. However, the issue is that this aromatic complexity didn't carry over into the flavor. While I could tell that there was an attention to detail placed on the quality of the ingredients in the salsa, its flavors ping-ponged off each other without any clear direction. The first bite I got was sweetness, followed by roastiness, followed by an overwhelming jolt of acidity that made my eyes water. These are all elements of a good salsa, but the transitions between these flavors are abrupt and unfinished. Its texture was objectively perfect -- not too watery nor too chunky -- and I do like its spice level overall. But I would have liked to see greater interaction between these individual, yet still welcomed, flavor components. After trying the inferno that was the Walmart-branded refrigerated salsa, I was more than happy to get my hands on the milder Fresh Cravings offering. This salsa comes in a cute container with whimsical tomato and onion drawings on it. When I took a whiff, it was easy to pull out the onion, cilantro, and tomato. It smells like a salsa I would get from a taquería. So far, so good. This salsa leans a little more toward the watery side, but there is no shortage of crunchy bits. The onion wasn't particularly sharp and was still mellowed by the fresh tomato taste. Cilantro paid a visit, but it was not as pushy of a flavor as it was in the Walmart salsa. Overall, it's a really good salsa that I would want to eat on fish tacos or with a heaping scoop of salty tortilla chips. I was missing some savoriness and complexity in its flavor, though, likely because the ingredients hadn't been allowed to sit very long together in the container. I didn't have high hopes for Xochitl at first. This Medium Chipotle Salsa is more reminiscent of a soup -- specifically gazpacho -- than a salsa. It's thin and watery, but boy is it delicious. Xochitl was very intentional about the flavors of this sauce. The chipotle flavor comes through beautifully with a tinge of sweetness on the back end. I was honestly waiting for a salsa that didn't smack me over the head with acidity, and I was glad that I finally found one that could deliver on that craving. The flavor is savory without teetering into meaty territory like the Herdez Salsa Casera. It's like the Goldilocks of salsas: spicy (and appropriate for the "medium" level), sweet, acidic, savory, and umami. This balance makes it tremendously versatile, though it may make your tortilla chips a bit wet. I would have ranked it at the top of my list, but I think its wateriness may not make it appealing to all salsa lovers. However, it's still No. 1 in my heart (and on my taste buds). I had a good feeling about Newman's Own salsa, given that I've liked this brand's other products. Its chunky, mild variety is far from the most exciting offering in its salsa lineup (because who would pick plain over ones with peach or mango?). I could pick up both acidic and smoky notes in its aroma. It wasn't particularly fragrant, but it made me excited to try a bite. Like Tostitos, Newman's Own walks a thin line between a medium and a mild salsa. This jar has a kick to it, but it's not relentless or harsh. Instead, the piquant flavor eases into the acidity like a slow, rolling wave, rather than a jolting ride on a Tilt-A-Whirl. The spice lingered on my palate just enough to be memorable -- but not annoying. It had a deeper and more rounded flavor than Fresh Cravings, and there were very few things I found wrong with it. Its versatility and overall flavor earn it high marks in my book, and even though I think it's a little too plain-Jane for me, I'm sure salsa lovers will have no problem reaching for it when they need to stock up. In order to get the fullest profile of each of these salsas, I sampled them straight from the spoon -- no tortilla chips involved (I didn't want the salt on the chips to skew my results). Although I did not eat them with any accompaniments, I took into account how versatile each salsa was and whether or not it could be used for various applications beyond just dipping. As I ate my way through Walmart's jarred salsa aisle, I examined the flavor balance and texture of each offering. The spice level needed to match what was listed on the label (mild or medium), and the texture should have been fitting for that particular style, be it a chunky, restaurant-style, salsa casera, or the like. I ranked jarred salsas that had an appropriate flavor balance higher than those that were one-dimensional or overpowering in a particular area (like acidity). A good salsa enhances whatever you eat with it, be it crispy fried potatoes, a simple egg bake, or store-bought tortilla chips, so I gave higher marks to options that were flavorful and had broad consumer appeal, rather than those that only a select few salsa enthusiasts could enjoy. Read the original article on Chowhound.
