4C changed its breadcrumb formula — home cooks say their cutlets taste ‘terrible’

Update: 4C says it’s investigating consumers’ breadcrumbs concerns

A formula switch by 4C Foods Corp. for its Seasoned Bread Crumbs in the last year has sparked a wave of kitchen meltdowns among home cooks — especially Italian American moms preparing Sunday dinner and other Italian food lovers.

The online outrage started when Judi Cutrone, an author and content creator from Maine, posted a TikTok about her mom’s chicken cutlets.

“For weeks, weeks, my mother has been complaining that her chicken cutlets taste different and she doesn’t know why, Cutrone said in a post from Aug. 8. ”It is a shocking revelation … When I tell you this has rocked the community. People have been just pulling their hair out, wondering what’s different? What’s changed? Why is this not working?"

Cutrone’s video has been viewed more than 320,000 times and was met with dozens of horrified comments from people.

“NJ girl here and I know an Italian emergency when I hear one,” one user wrote. “This is the ultimate betrayal,” said another. “My mom fully crashed out over this last week,” said a third, who added, “our meatballs were compromised.”

The news sparked a wave of discourse across social media, including tutorials on how to make your own seasoned breadcrumbs and spoofs of Italian American moms reacting to the formula switch.

Multiple home cooks who spoke with The Inquirer noted their recent disappointment with the breadcrumbs and having to adjust their own recipes.

Among the complaints with 4C’s new recipe, common themes included the breadcrumbs not adhering as well, taking too long to crisp up before either burning or becoming soggy, and tasting too sweet.

But how legitimate is the ingredient swap and what does it mean for home cooks everywhere? We’re breaking it all down.

Yes.

About 10 months ago, a Reddit user noted that 4C quietly updated its Seasoned Bread Crumbs packaging and ingredients list.

The updated formula added eggs, switched from corn syrup to high fructose corn syrup, and added molasses and honey. The Inquirer confirmed this ingredient update by comparing ingredients on old and current versions of the breadcrumbs online and in person.

Online, several 4C loyalists have mentioned that they’re inexplicably tasting cinnamon in their finished recipes, including Cutrone’s mother and users on Facebook in recent months. In reality, they’re likely tasting the additional sugars burning off, said TikToker the Food Hacker (@O_G_deez), who has built a reputation for breaking down popular foods’ recipe changes.

“The reasons these sweeteners can have adverse effects on your final product, like your chicken cutlets, is because molasses and honey are sweeteners. It’s sugar,” the TikToker said. “What happens to sugar when you cook it? It turns to caramel, it burns. So the propensity of your chicken cutlets burning is a lot higher.”

Food allergy awareness advocates also say adding ingredients like eggs unannounced to formulas that didn’t previously carry them can be extremely dangerous.

Multiple requests for comment from 4C by The Inquirer have gone unanswered.

Along with changing its ingredients, 4C also subtly changed its packaging. Now, under the “Seasoned” label, the package says in italics, “With Pecorino Romano Cheese.”

Consumers are up in arms over the change and convinced that the cheese addition is what’s messing with the breadcrumbs’ taste. But cheese isn’t a new addition.

In reality, as the Food Hacker pointed out with a side-by-side look at the ingredients, grated pecorino romano cheese has always been included.

“The only difference is it wasn’t explicitly stated on the labels,” the TikToker explained.

Devin Rossi-Ford, an Italian American based in Abington, said the formula change has been a hot issue among her friends.

“Growing up in an Italian household, you have your key set of default dinners: meatballs, chicken cutlets, and if you’re feeling really fancy, eggplant parm or fried veggies,” Rossi-Ford said. “The switch in breadcrumbs has almost taken those options away. We’ve been searching for a good substitution and thankfully, all of my Italian friends throughout the city, mainly South Philly, have been searching too.”

Rossi-Ford said she and her friends have been comparing notes to find a comparable replacement for 4C’s old formula, but they haven’t had much luck.

It’s left her and others frustrated. “It’s a really weird and unnecessary switch to make in the recipe,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone complain about the old recipe.”

Rachel Harvey of Fishtown loves to make chicken parm regularly and has been using 4C Seasoned Bread Crumbs for years. She usually purchases the breadcrumbs at Walmart or Costco and currently has two tins in her kitchen cabinet.

She said she feels affirmed knowing the ingredients actually changed.

“Now that I know it’s a formula difference, I do feel very much validated,” she said. “I was going a little crazy knowing that I personally didn’t change my routine and the breadcrumbs were falling off.”

But, she said, it’s unrealistic for her to switch brands right now — especially with backup tins queued up in her pantry.

“Will I stop using 4C? I mean I have two giant tins of it, so I’m not going to waste what I have because it’s already taking up space in the cabinet,” she said. “But switching to panko might be on the horizon unless I can figure out a way to fix this issue myself.”

Nicole Veit Gesing of Glenside said she makes chicken cutlets and meatballs weekly using 4C. In the last three weeks, she said she’s noticed the breadcrumbs not adhering to the cutlets as well and the overall taste being sweeter.

“I have had to adjust by adding more Locatelli cheese to the breading and almost doubling what I use in my meatballs,” she said. “I am not an Italian who uses sugar in my gravy and am very observant of any sweet. I have several friends who are the same way. I now have my kids on a mission to look for the old recipe and buy it up.”

Nothing for now.

The Inquirer reached out for comment, but did not hear back as of publication time. We’ll update this story if the company gets back to us.

It’s unclear exactly when the formula change and new packaging took place. On Reddit, users — especially among the allergy-conscious community — started commenting on the ingredient update last fall.

It doesn’t look like 4C Foods Corp. put out any official word about the ingredient and packaging update online or on its website. Instead, its social media pages are filled with complaints in its comments section.

As for why the discourse is only taking off this summer, it’s possible it has to do with consumption habits.

Breadcrumbs are one of those pantry items with a long shelf life, and like Harvey, many people buy them in large quantities.

It’s possible it took this long for some consumers to notice the changes because they — or their grocery stores of choice — hadn’t gotten around to a can with an updated formula until recently.

But differences in how food is cooking with the new breadcrumbs, coupled with the commentary on social media, has more people noticing.

“The last two times I’ve made chicken parm … I’ve noticed that the breadcrumbs were either falling off in chunks or not getting crispy like they used to, leading me to leave the chicken on the stove for longer and slightly burning them,” Harvey said.

Philly chef Liz Grothe — who owns the Italian tasting-menu spot Scampi in Queen Village — says the change and the blowback among consumers boils down to brand trust.

“It’s not about the recipe, but the breach of trust,” she said, adding that in American culture especially, consumers expect familiarity and consistency, “no matter what environmental factors are at play.”

Grothe continued, “So when it comes to a product like 4C’s breadcrumbs, I would want to know why they changed it. People have become accustomed to eating that flavor. They know that it’s going to taste this way, it’s going to cook a certain way.”

The phenomenon, Grothe says, is purely an “American thing.”

“Everywhere else, people may expect a little bit of variance from their food,” she said. “But in our mass-produced market, people want it to be the same all the time. Because when they have their recipes, ‘I get these breadcrumbs that always taste like this and this is how I season them.’”

It depends. Of course, making breadcrumbs yourself is an option.

Grothe suggests purchasing plain breadcrumbs and seasoning them yourself to keep the control in the cook’s hands.

But the whole point of using store-bought is to save time, the added convenience, and consistency. Several home cooks mentioned that 4C Seasoned Bread Crumbs were specifically listed in family members’ old recipes, and they’re hesitant to switch things up.

“I know that’s not necessarily ideal for people, because grandma’s recipe may have used 4C’s Italian breadcrumbs,” Grothe said.

On TikTok, Cutrone — who posted the initial viral video about the ingredient switch — said her family has switched to Progresso breadcrumbs instead.

Grothe, who used to work as an industrial safety manager at Tyson Foods before opening Scampi, also said companies like 4C rely on consumer feedback to know when they’re not hitting the mark.

“If enough people are like, ‘Hey, change it back,’ there’s a good chance they might be heard,” she said. “I can’t guarantee that, but you know somebody at 4C is going to see these complaints.”

Janine Joyce of Mount Laurel Township did just that Monday evening, emailing 4C directly.

“I’ve been a loyal 4C seasoned bread crumb user for over 35 years,” she wrote in an email reviewed by The Inquirer. “However, the last can I bought has undergone a significant change in taste. It now has a sweet, almost cinnamon-like flavor. My chicken cutlets taste terrible.”

Joyce, 53, ended her note by “begging” 4C to revert to its old formula.

“Their breadcrumbs are my go-to for everything,” she told The Inquirer Tuesday morning. ”When a product you use regularly undergoes a formula change, it’s impossible to ignore. I’m at a loss because I’ve never used anything else. I know it sounds dramatic, but I need the old ones back."