Kichigin Aleksandr/123RF
In case you haven’t noticed, pumpkin spice flavoring is no longer relegated to your Starbuck’s latte: You can now find pumpkin spiced peanut butter, dog biscuits, and even deodorant. If the trend is starting to make you feel nauseous, Washington Post reporter Maura Judkis, a recent guest on our podcast Bite, has some good news for you. “This year could be the beginning of the end of the pumpkin spice party,” Judkis wrote in her essay “I used every pumpkin spice product I could find for a week. Now my armpits smell like nutmeg.”
According to data analysts at Nielsen, Judkis reports, while pumpkin spice products grew by 20 percent in 2013 over the previous year, this year saw only 6 percent in annual growth.
On Bite, Judkis schools us on the best and the worst pumpkin spice products, speculates on the up-and-coming autumnal flavor, and explains why the pumpkin spice latte became the symbol of the “basic bitch.”
And because we couldn’t help ourselves, here’s our list of the year’s most ridiculous pumpkin spice products.
Native Pumpkin Spice Latte deodorant
AI Sports Pumpkin Pie Whey Protein powder
Jif Whips: Whipped Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Pie Spice
Greenies Pumpkin Spice Flavor dog teething biscuits
Kahlúa Pumpkin Spice
Burnett’s Pumpkin Spice Vodka
Farmers’ Market Natural Pumpkin Spice bar soap
Showseason Pumpkin Spice Pet Shampoo
Rossi Pasta’s Pumpkin Spice Fettuccini Pasta
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Bonus: Read Mother Jones editor Ben Dreyfuss’s piece on whether pumpkin is actually an ingredient in any of these products.
