Many products are available in both Mexico and the USA from the same manufacturer. But there are differences in the ingredients in each market, which can make them taste very different.
Coca-Cola is a classic example. Another is Tyson's frozen Buffalo Wings - crispy and marinated in Mexico, undercooked and simply dipped in a boring sauce in the US.
Chips Comparison
Here are packets of potato chips (crisps) from Sabritas (made in Mexico) and Lay's (made in the USA).
Both brands are owned by Pepsico.
The US packet is larger, 70.8 grams compared to 42 grams (1.7 times the size).
But it's also more expensive - $1.29 compared to 6 pesos (50c). (2.58 times the price).
Per gram (or ounce), it's 50% more expensive in the USA.
That's what the richer market will stand, and could also reflect the higher production costs in the US.
Plus, there's more discounting in the US, so a higher printed price makes this easier.
Ingredients
There are some small diferences in the ingredients beween the Mexican chips (top image) and the US ingredients (lower image).
Some can be explained by translation differences, if you compare the Spanish on the US pack to the Mexican pack.
And there's an artificial color in the US recipe that isn't mentioned in Mexico.
But there is one more subtle diference -- on the US pack, salt is listed twice!
Nutritional Information
So what effect does this have on the "nutrition" of the chips in Mexico or USA?
It makes the USA pack (even) less healthy.
The "portion size" on the Mexican pack is 25g, on the US pack it's 28g / one ounce (so the Mexican portion is only 90% of the size of the US portion).
Taking this into account (reducing the figures on the US pack by 10%), the US has 144 calories compared to 128 for Mexico.
Fats and carbohydrates are very similar to each other.
But look at the sodium (salt) figure: for a 25g portion, the US has 333mg compared to 160mg in Mexico! More than double.
That's maybe why salt was listed twice on the US ingredients - it's the Mexican recipe, but with the salt levels doubled to suit US tastes!
And the difference in taste is very noticable. Trying a direct comparison taste test (I was hungry!), the US pack is much more salty and powdery than the Mexican pack. The salt almost hides the lime flavor.
I've seen many people in the US add salt to their soup before even tasting it, so no doubt Lays are simply responding to market tastes.
But it does show that you can't rely on the "same" product being the same both sides of the border.
In many ways, that's a good thing. Makes travel more interesting!
