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I noticed that my grocery store sells jalapeño that is "nacho sliced". How is this different (if at all) than just normal "sliced"?

Jalapeño peppers - side by side

I do understand that the product on the right is labeled "no heat", and that is a significant difference between these products. I am not asking what the difference between these products is in general: I am asking specifically about nacho-sliced-ness. How is a "nacho sliced jalapeño" different from an ordinary "sliced jalapeño"?

Bonus question: why are nachos pictured on the jalapeño that is not "nacho sliced"?

Community
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Phil Frost
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    I think more relevant are the words NO HEAT on the other ones – Kate Gregory Aug 04 '14 at 16:00
  • @KateGregory Relevant how? Does "nacho sliced" somehow imply no heat? – Phil Frost Aug 04 '14 at 16:22
  • It could be that they removed most of the seeds and ribs to reduce the heat but I am not sure I would call that no heat. – draksia Aug 04 '14 at 16:45
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    @PhilFrost : because you typically think of jalapeños as having heat. It's either a strange breed, or they've done some non-typical processing to it to remove the heat. – Joe Aug 04 '14 at 16:46
  • and I've seen jalapeños that were sliced into long strips, rather than rounds ... I would consider the rounds to be 'nacho sliced', but not the strips ... but I have no idea if that's what the difference is in this case. – Joe Aug 04 '14 at 16:47
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    @PhilFrost Do you have an ingredient list for each of these jars? I have worked in the CPG industry for almost 30 years and my guess is that it is a case of semantics. Or it's possible that you happened to notice this during the sell through of product undergoing a label change. – Cindy Aug 04 '14 at 16:55
  • @Joe Concerning the "no heat": Mezzetta (great brand out of the Napa Valley) has a product called [Tamed Jalapenos](http://www.mezzetta.com/our-products/detail/jalapeno-peppers) "Our Tamed™ Jalapeños—a hybrid of a jalapeño and a bell pepper—were developed for us by Texas A&M University to provide all the flavor and texture of a regular jalapeño but with less heat." The specific hybrid is trademarked, but I'm sure there are other similar ones. The Mezzetta peppers are awesome BTW, and a far cry from "no heat", the heat reduction is pretty mild. (so to speak) – Jolenealaska Aug 04 '14 at 20:02
  • I'm certainly aware that "no heat" is a significant attribute of the product on the right, but I'm specifically asking about what it means for a jalapeño to be "nacho sliced" rather than just "sliced". Unless "nacho sliced" has something to do with heat, the "no heat"-ness is irrelevant to my question. – Phil Frost Aug 04 '14 at 20:26
  • @CindyAskew I didn't look at the ingredients, but I'll take a peek next time I go shopping. – Phil Frost Aug 04 '14 at 20:29
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    @PhilFrost We know you didn't ask about the "no-heat", that's why none of the comments referring to it are answers. BTW, My guess is that Cindy is correct that the product is just going through a label change. The slices look the same to me. – Jolenealaska Aug 04 '14 at 20:59
  • Or they use the word "nacho" to further differentiate the two products, since they *look* the same. – Jolenealaska Aug 04 '14 at 21:08
  • In Japan I once spotted "dengaku eggplant sauce" right next to "dengaku tofu sauce." (sweet miso sauce for eggplant/tofu). Two products, two skus. Same manufacturer, same ingredient proportions, same nutritional info, same color. The difference? Marketing message on the label. Without direct comparison, I don't know that you'll be able to figure out the difference, but then you'll have bought one of each. #marketingSuccess – JasonTrue Aug 04 '14 at 23:05

4 Answers4

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As near as I can determine, "nacho sliced" is simply a marketing term for such pre-sliced, pickled jalapeno peppers. A quick Google for the term brings up several brands which appear identical to one another. There are also similar combinations of the words such as "nacho jalapenos, sliced". The bottle on the right is the only one labelled as such, but they're basically the exact same thing.

So, the only difference? The "no heat" on the right-hand bottle, and some other subtle changes to the packaging. It's marketing fluff, not a real distinction.

Bonus answer: they probably decided that the picture on the right bottle looked healthier, or lighter, or more colorful, or some dang thing.

logophobe
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  • I guess for nachos it's nice to be able to have the look of the jalapenos without having to worry about whether people can handle having one in every single bite, so maybe there at least was a reason for the name. – Cascabel Aug 05 '14 at 05:05
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It might be a case of changing packaging; I've often seen two identical products from the same brand labelled differently, and by a few weeks later one of them has vanished due to a phased release of a new branding. Notice how the pattern on the label is brighter, and the whole label is slightly taller, giving more room for the photo of food on the top. The copyright mark has also changed location slightly.

Yamikuronue
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If you peruse ethnic supermarkets, you'll often find pickled jalapeños that are cut into slabs (cut from stem to tip, often jarred with carrots and onions in the brine, too. It's also possible that the skin might be removed). It's often labeled as 'jalapeños en escabeche'

I suspect that 'nacho sliced' is simply those cut into little circular sections before pickling.

Joe
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They were two different items (one had heat and one didn't), but they discontinued the no heat one.

Cascabel
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michael haines
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