Avoid Buying Aldi's Deli Meat At All Costs. Here's Why

Aldi has a knack for keeping costs low and customers happy, consistently ranking as one of the most affordable grocery stores out there. As with many other grocery stores, Aldi provides customers a wide selection of both name-brand and store-brand items, but not everything can be a winner. As evidenced by many unhappy customers on Reddit, fellow shoppers recommend avoiding Aldi's deli meat section entirely.

According to most reviews, Aldi's deli meat is often slimy, salty, and a hard pass for many die-hard shoppers. One customer wrote on Reddit, "The slime on it is the reason I no longer buy it." This slime is the film that often accompanies prepackaged deli meats. Another shopper in a different Reddit thread wrote, "I can't bring myself to purchase Aldi deli meat ever again. I've tried every brand/type Aldi has had[.] It's all slimy and gross in my opinion." The original poster of the Reddit thread detailed a horrific experience with food poisoning after eating a sandwich containing Aldi deli meat, though it couldn't be confirmed or disproven whether Aldi's deli meat was the cause. Most other social media posts show similar stories, that the deli meat is certainly one of the seven types of meats to avoid at Aldi.

You may have already noticed, but Aldi stores don't contain an actual deli, bakery, or liquor store. These are all part of the effort to keep Aldi's costs low for customers, and it means that all deli meat is packaged offsite. Aldi's deli sliced meats come in clear plastic bags with an Aldi logo on the outside, available in varieties like sliced oven classic turkey breast to honey turkey breast. The slimy film that customers often complain about could be the result of the added sodium that comes from a preservative saline and sugar water solution often used with prepackaged deli meats.

Aldi sells a variety of deli meats, including a different "regular buy" Aldi brand named "Lunch Mate," which is exclusive to Aldi but is packaged differently than the kind that customers more often complain about. This brand comes in a sealed plastic bag inside of a red plastic tub and boasts no nitrites and no preservatives. "The red tupperware one is good," said one Reddit shopper. Another said, "The red ones almost never get slimy." There are plenty of myths that you need to unlearn about Aldi, but the gossip about the chain's subpar deli meat is unfortunately no rumor.