Living year-round on Martha’s Vineyard requires specific survival skills. These include stocking up on your favorite grocery items when they are on sale. For example, only arriving vacationers pay full price for Thomas’ English Muffins. Islanders know that, about every other week, they can get two packages for the price of one at the local Stop & Shop.

Generally, my wife Norma does most of the grocery shopping. It’s not that I’m a shirker. She just doesn’t trust me. I’m an impulse buyer with a fondness for cookies and pastries. I also grab items without looking at the labels. If frozen peas are on the shopping list (assuming I didn’t forget the list, which usually includes a reminder to get English muffins if they’re on sale), I may come home with the correct vegetable, only it will be saturated in an unwanted glutinous cream sauce that resembles the paste found in a kindergarten classroom.

Breton Crackers, currently $4.29 on the shelf in the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop ($3.99 in the Cape stores!), is one of our favorites. When on sale, we stock up. My point is not to impress you with our thrift, but to emphasize that Norma knows and appreciates the flaky, delicate and buttery taste of these crackers. I’m less discriminating, but they go great with smoked bluefish, venison summer sausage, and cheese.

Last month, Norma told me that there was something different about the crackers. A former news reporter, I replied with my trademark skepticism.

“What do you mean, there’s something different?” I said.

“When I opened them up, there were lots of crumbs, and the crackers were very thin and crumbly, and they looked different,” she said. “And they taste bland. There’s no flavor.”

Norma was riled up. I suggested she email the company and see what they had to say. I didn’t expect much of a response from whatever international corporation had found a way to boost profits at the expense of my wife’s discriminating taste buds.

However, in an email dated October 31, 2025, from Consumer Care at Dare Foods, Norma’s suspicions were confirmed.

“Dear Norma, Thank you for contacting Dare Foods recently. We appreciate you sharing your experience with our Breton crackers with us.

“We understand your concern regarding the taste and texture of your recent purchase. The Breton line has recently been reformulated to be plant-based and Non-GMO Project certified. While the recipe was updated to meet these new standards, we recognize that this may result in a slightly different texture or flavour compared to previous versions.

“Your feedback has been shared with our Product Development and Quality Assurance teams, as consumer input is extremely valuable to us. Thank you again for taking the time to reach out and for your long-time support of Breton crackers. Thanks again — and have a great day!”

The email was signed by “Steph,” a nice touch. But I wondered, is there a human or an AI Steph?

I figured Norma could not have been the only one to notice a change in the character of the cracker. Curious, I did – what else — I Googled “Breton Crackers original recipe change.” Sure enough, Norma is not alone in her dismay.

AI responded with the following summary: “Online discussions indicate that while the original, wheat-based Breton cracker recipe has not had any officially announced reformulations, many Reddit users perceive a change in taste and texture, often attributing it to factors like ingredient sourcing changes or shrinkflation.... Multiple users on Reddit and other forums have reported that the crackers taste different — specifically, less salty, more bland, stale, or oily.”

AI added the company response, that the crackers maintained their “same satisfying, savory crunch,” but that these changes often coincide with “subtle adjustments in ingredient sourcing or processing methods, which could explain the perceived difference.”

So what had been a tasty cracker is now a tasteless imitation of what made the cracker popular. The change smacked of virtue-signaling for no real purpose.

I have no problem with GMOs. Humans have been modifying plants and creatures for various reasons since the dawn of time. Look at the Labradoodle!

I don’t expect the Breton Cracker reformulation to reach the level of the New Coke branding fiasco or the Cracker Barrel logo controversy. Still, if it does, Norma Sigelman is ready to be interviewed.

Nelson Sigelman lives in Vineyard Haven.