Talk:Salad cream

Shelf life
Does anyone know if salad cream lasts noticeably longer than plain mayonnaise and for what reason this might be? My grandmother has always kept open salad cream bottles out of the fridge, and they seem to last for ages. However, I'm sure mayonnaise would go off in less than 24 hours. Could it be the vinegar maybe? If anyone can confirm that it lasts longer and give an explanation I wouldn't mind adding it to the article. Daniel Medina 08:02, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Haven't got a bottle to hand, but I'm pretty sure there's no egg in the recipe; maybe that's why?79.66.189.112 (talk) 00:56, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

My Heinz Salad Cream says it contains, eggs and mustard. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.178.182.224 (talk) 14:37, 13 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Its shelf-life is only a few months, and yes - it does indeed contain egg yolks. You can smell it and taste it.  Great stuff! 73.6.96.168 (talk) 10:40, 30 September 2019 (UTC)


 * I'm looking at a salad cream bottle, which has a 'best before' date of ca. 18 months from when I bought it (which of course isn't the same as when it was made, but still). It says "refrigerate after opening, and consume within 8 weeks". My mayonnaise bottle has similar BB shelf life (unopened), and says "refrigerate after opening, and consume within 3 months". So if anything, it would seem that (commercially produced) mayo lasts slightly longer than salad cream. Although having said that, what manufacturers say and what the actual shelf life of a food product is are often two entirely different things; they obvious have several reasons to underestimate it. DoubleGrazing (talk) 15:21, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

Marketing Ploy(?) to discontinue salad cream?
At I ran into the following quote: "rumoured demise of salad cream" and thought it might be worth adding to the article. However, this was the closest I got to a WP:RS on the subject. Search engines produced any number of message board mentions, such as:    (search for "salad cream" in those pages as needed). But has anyone documented this (at a minimum, what year this alleged announcement took place)? Has it made it to any of the urban legends web sites, or any similar researcher of folklore, the history of business, etc? Kingdon 19:46, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

U.S. Nutritional Information ?
Can anyone provide accurate United States nutritional information for both the Salad Cream and Salad Cream Light products? I contacted the U.S. consumer help line, (800)255-5750, however as it is not distributed in the U.S. they could not help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.104.63.94 (talk) 18:51, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use image?
Could we include an image? Would the one here constitute fair use? http://www.heinz.co.uk/products/heinz_salad_cream.aspx samwaltz (talk) 19:28, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Found and added such an image. Geoff  TC 20:54, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Miracle Whip
Is Miracle Whip dressing considered a salad cream, or at least close enough to merit a mention in the article? --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 15:34, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
 * If you're in the US, the product that comes closest to Heinz Salad Cream, for taste at least, is Marzetti Slaw Dressing; Miracle Whip doesn't even come close. I think the question is, "Is Heinz Salad Cream considered to be a salad dressing like Miracle Whip/Best/Hellmann's, et cetera?"   R ad io pa th y  •talk•   00:26, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Mayonnaise is not considered salad dressing in the US. Miracle Whip is labeled as such. I can't imagine that salad cream is that hard to find in the US as it is available (Heinz) at the local supermarket in Fairbanks, Alaska where we have fewer products than most of the lower 48.--Weetoddid (talk) 06:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Mayonnaise is not "considered salad dressing" because it is a more specific product with a more constrained standard of identity: the mayonnaise-like products labeled "salad dressing" are called that because they don't meet the labeling standards of official mayonnaise, not because there's any substantial difference in how the product is used. In my experience, Americans use "salad dressing" much more like mayonnaise than like salad dressing. Spark240 (talk) 13:06, 13 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Is there any difference between "salad dressing" of the Miracle Whip type and "salad cream" other than their wording? Both are, broadly speaking, low-fat imitations of mayonnaise. Indeed the WP article on Miracle Whip states "In 1933 Kraft developed a new dressing similar to mayonnaise, but as a less expensive alternative." To me these belong in the same article. Unless by "salad cream" you refer to a specific brand from the UK, I find it very hard to argue that "Salad cream was not readily available in the United States until the 21st century". 141.48.25.130 (talk) 17:58, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Salad Cream is an actual product specific to the UK. Originally created and made in the UK so differs from Miracle whip. Being a Brit now living in the States, I can definitely say that the two products have nothing in common, one is white and one is yellow and the taste is totally different. As both products are so different, they are worthy of having their own articles. Geotek (talk) 23:41, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

No no and heck no. Please don't try to introduce Miracle Whip into this article. They are NOT the same, at all. Just please don't. 73.6.96.168 (talk) 10:42, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Through my letter box...
I've just consumed a free sample sachet of Heinz Salad Cream, and I must admit that it was really rather good! Keep up the good work...!

82.5.68.95 (talk) 05:09, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

I am still awaiting my sample — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.132.11.78 (talk) 19:02, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Salad Cream was created by the Heinz kitchens in Pittsburgh
"Salad cream was not readily available in the United States until the 21st century."

It was created in Pittsburgh, as were Heinz Baked Beans and many of the Heinz soups sold in the U.K. It and HBB were sold in America for decades. I have several American cookbooks published by Heinz from the 1930s and 1940s which feature photos of pantries stocked with Heinz products, and salad cream is included in all of them. At one time, Heinz in America produced three variations of baked beans: with pork, without pork (vegetarian style), and Boston style. Salad cream and baked beans, which are so readily identified as British, have their origins in America. I would upload a photo from one of my cookbooks, but I don't want to deal with copyright problems. Sd31263 (talk) 14:05, 23 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Sorry to argue but Heinz's own website states - "Heinz® Salad Cream was the first brand developed exclusively for the U.K. market. When first created in Heinz’ Harlesden (London) kitchens in 1925 much of the preparation was done by hand ....... " So while it may have found it's way across the pond back in the 30s, it was certainly created in the UK.Geotek (talk) 23:10, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Not sufficiently distinguished from mayonnaise
I've just read the article and believe that it does not sufficiently distinguish salad cream from mayonnaise. Both seem to have approximately the same ingredients, the same color, and nothing is said about any difference in taste or consistency.

It seems to me that if the ingredients, color, consistency, and taste are the same, there is no real difference between the two, hence this article should be deleted or merged with Mayonnaise. David Spector (talk) 17:19, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

It's similar but not the same. Taste and consistency are different and is much yellower than commercial mayo. There's less egg, about triple the vinegar and a third of the oil (the main ingredient is vinegar, not oil like with mayo), it's runnier and contains flour as well as more sugar and spices. 86.168.11.83 (talk) 22:04, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

It's also got about 30 times as much sugar than mayonnaise (mostly added) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.24.229.196 (talk) 09:16, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

Salad Cream and mayonnaise have a common origin but are as differentiated as is Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Voss749 (talk) 20:53, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

Neither Salad Cream nor the American Miracle Whip can be sold as Mayonnaise because neither has sufficient amounts of vegetable oil. Voss749 (talk) 21:01, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

Mayonnaise must have 65% of its product be vegtable oil in the USA, 70% in the European Union. Voss749 (talk) 21:04, 17 May 2018 (UTC)


 * No, not even close. They're completely different animals. 98.194.39.86 (talk) 05:13, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

"Major [US] retail supermarket chains sell salad cream as a regular item"
The claim that "Major [US] retail supermarket chains sell salad cream as a regular item" is vague and insufficiently backed up by the references.

Firstly, what constitutes a "regular item"? I'd assume it's something that one would expect to find in the majority of supermarkets, and not a "speciality" import intended for another market, but the term is somewhat vague.

Secondly, I'm not convinced how much simply "citing" a product page along proves beyond the fact that the online store- or somewhere- sells it at some point.

'''The Wegman's URL link is broken, and not available in the Internet Archive. This is the problem with using product pages- which are more likely to be ephemeral and less likely to have been archived- *without* providing an archive-url at the time of citation'''. (If that had been looked up, the Internet Archive could have grabbed the then-current copy and archived it, but it's too late for that now.)

In fact, I'd argue that even if the URL remains active, the content can't be trusted not to change significantly, and an archive-url should be a prerequisite for this sort of thing, if it's acceptable at all.

The Meijer link shows it at $6.59 (why's it so expensive? low volume import) and the URL indicates it's in the "British" section, suggesting it's a speciality import. Is that a "regular item"?

Another link is from "Cost Plus World Market" which sounds like a company that specialises in "world foods" and imports, not a typical supermarket.

I notice that added the references (although this was to back up pre-existing text, and the text they supported has since been changed, so it's maybe unreasonable to expect them to have gone out of their way to back up someone else's assertion; that was really the original editor's responsibility).

But all this is a somewhat long way of saying that the references here are a problem.

Ubcule (talk) 12:06, 30 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I'm all for improving the references. Have at it! Geoff &#124; Who, me? 17:38, 30 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Hi Geoff/. Thank you for the go-ahead.
 * If I already knew that the claims being made were true- *and* I had the time and inclination!- I'd probably have found references and added them. However, in this case, I've no idea personally whether they're meaningfully true or not- the onus is on whoever first made them to back them up (or on anyone who wants to argue that they should be kept).
 * I appreciate your effort, and acknowledge that there was no obligation on your part to do this, just as there isn't on mine. Even so, the problems above remain- the references don't clearly back up the specific assertion they're supposed to, and (this was supposed to be a more general question) I wondered what the acceptability was with using product pages like this, especially without an archive-url being supplied.
 * All the best. Ubcule (talk) 19:18, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

Rationing claim
"Due to the higher cost of ingredients during periods of rationing in the United Kingdom a flavour similar to mayonnaise was achieved in the creation of salad cream"

The product may have been created in 1914- around the start of the First World War- but there's no evidence provided that this was in response to rationing. While it's clear that there was rationing during WW1- albeit on a more limited scale to that of WW2- that appears to have been mainly later on.

None of the existing references- which aren't even attached to this specific claim- back up the implied assertion that it was created due to rationing; we require this, or the statement should be removed.

Ubcule (talk) 12:13, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

Salad Cream Ingredients
First off, I'd like to acknowledge that I live in the USA and have never eaten salad cream.

The ingredients given in the article seem to me to be fairly suspect, or at least are not sufficiently explained. The ingredients align with those found in the Heinz brand Salad Cream, which may be what the article is supposed to be about. In which case, I think the article should be renamed Salad Cream (Heinz). However, since I like trying things and I've successfully made my own mayonnaise a few times, I've been searching online for a recipe for homemade salad cream. So far, of five recipes I've found, only one includes oil and all of the recipes include some type of cream. There are other variations including hard-boiled eggs, flour, or vastly different amounts of vinegar and sugar.

So unlike the Heinz brand, oil seems to be a rare ingredient, while cream is ubiquitous. I can't imagine these recipes produce anything at all similar to the brand product. Can someone who lives in the UK provide some insight or correction to the article? LordQwert (talk) 20:29, 6 June 2020 (UTC)