Why All Pickle Jar Labels Don't Include the Word ‘Pickle’
A TikToker who posts under @jessebanwell recently posted about a strange phenomenon he noticed while making sandwiches for his kids. His son wanted to know how to spell the word “pickle” but couldn’t find that word on the label of the pickle jar his father had taken from the fridge.
Holding up a jar of pickles in the video, the Tiktoker notes, “Sure enough, it doesn’t say ‘pickle’ anywhere on this jar.” He then holds up another jar of pickles from a different brand and notes that he couldn’t find the word ‘pickle’ on that jar, either.
The post garnered thousands of comments, with many commenters floating their own theories as to the reason behind this occurrence. Others couldn’t resist making some pickle-related puns–like the commenter who pronounced this, “A very big dill.”
All of this chatter got us curious, so we made some calls to get to the bottom of this, well, pickle.
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The Label Regulations Theory Was a Bust
While some TikTok commenters suggested this could be tied to regulations governing the use of the word "pickle," a search of the FDA’s labeling regulations doesn’t reveal anything specifically related to criteria for using that term. Packaged pickles must follow general labeling guidelines—such as including the packer’s name and location and the weight of the package contents—and in some cases may need to include information about how the contents were prepared or how they need to be stored. But there doesn’t seem to be any regulation dictating when the word ‘pickle' can or cannot be used. (We reached out to the FDA but didn’t get a response as of publication time.)
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The Real Reason Why Some Pickle Brands Don’t Use the Word 'Pickle' on Labels
After chatting with folks from some of the best-known pickle companies, we discovered an answer that’s much less intriguing than people who watched the TikTok video may have imagined.
It seems to boil down to space. The label on the front of the jar is prime real estate and manufacturers want to make sure every word counts.
“Because of the wide variety of our pickle forms, we use the limited label space to clearly communicate the form and flavor inside each jar,” says Carolyn Goldberger, Vlasic brand manager. “That way consumers can easily find their favorite Vlasic. But no matter the style, it's definitely a pickle!”
Other brands have a similar reason. “Because we pack our products in a glass jar, consumers can see that the jar contains pickles, so the front labels are focused on the variety of pickle,” says Lynn Williams, public relations manager at Mt. Olive Pickle Company. “As you may have recognized, this is standard labeling for other brands as well. The packaging on some of our products, such as our Munchies Portable Pickles in the resealable pouches, are not translucent, and the pickles cannot be seen by the consumer from the outside. In that case, those items do have the word ‘pickle’ incorporated on the front label.”
Wiliams points out that, even when it’s not prominently visible, you can still find the word "pickle" on all of their pickle jars, if you look closely enough. “For what it’s worth, the word “pickles” appears on every lid as part of our web address, and the word “pickle” appears on the back label in our company name,” she says.
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Some Pickle Brands Do Use the Word 'Pickle' on the Label
The lack of the word “pickle” on a pickle jar label isn’t universal and varies by brand. Grillo’s Pickles, for example, uses the word liberally on all of their packaging.
“For Grillo’s, using the word ‘pickle’ has always been in our vocabulary,” says Eddie Andre, Vice President of Brand at Grillo’s Pickles. “When we were just a pickle cart selling on the streets we would say, ‘Step on up, world's best pickle, 2 spears $1.’ Calling out ‘pickle’ was what we did to tell people what we were selling and that’s no different in our jars. We’ve pickled all sorts of veggies over the years, so for us we always wanted to make sure we have the proper spotlight to our classic and hot pickles.”
One thing all of the brands agree on: people can be enthusiastic when it comes to all things pickles. "We love pickle people and how passionate they are!" Andre says.