Jimmy Dean Breakfast Burritos

We are living in anxious times. It’s easy to forget the things that once brought us joy.

We’re talking, of course, about the breakfast burrito: a combination of meat, eggs and cheese – or really whatever you want to put in it, the burrito is your oyster – that requires no utensils and that you can take with you as you walk out the door.

So it came as a major disappointment for one TINA.org reader that after purchasing a Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and cheese breakfast burrito, the actual burrito failed to live up to the one pictured on the box.

Here’s how the breakfast burrito looks in the frozen foods aisle, bursting with hearty chunks of sausage and eggs coated in gobs of cheese:

The actual burrito (per a photo sent in by our reader):

Is that even the same burrito? The reader sounded off:

They are nothing like the photo on the box … the meat in the burrito is minced and the eggs are not the same either.

TINA.org confirmed the notable differences in appearance between the burrito on the box and the actual burrito:

What’s the deal, Jimmy Dean? We reached out to the company for comment but it did not respond to our inquiry.

Misleading food images

Marketing that misleads consumers about the way food will look – or taste – is nothing new. We’ve been covering the issue for years, from Arby’s diminutive “meat mountain” sandwich to KFC’s buckets of chicken that are only overflowing in the ads to Halo Top’s peanut butter cup ice cream devoid of any actual peanut butter cups.

Unfortunately for consumers, most courts have taken the position that reasonable consumers expect to be disappointed when it comes to enticing food images. So remember that looks can be deceiving – and make your purchases accordingly.

Find more of our coverage on food and drink.