The small, kid-friendly star-shaped pasta Ronzoni's Pastina No. 155, which was historically used in Italian bridal soup, has been withdrawn.
After readers alerted them to the pasta's unexpected absence, the fact-checking website contacted Ronzoni, only to confirm on December 29 that its demise was true.
8th Avenue Food & Provisions, the consumer products holding company that bought Ronzoni in May 2021,
emailed Snopes a statement explaining how the pastina's "unique small size and star-shaped required specialised production from a third-party manufacturer,"
adding that the company's long-term manufacturer would stop making the product in January 2023.
On January 3, Ronzoni also broke the news on social media, to the chagrin of his admirers.
"This saddens me greatly! It's the end of an era in Italian medicine! "Someone mentioned it on Twitter. "I will never purchase your pasta again. This is a calamity." Another has been included.
Instagram was also buzzing, with about 130 people commenting on the announcement.
"This is not how we intended to kick off 2023, Ronzoni!" said one Instagram user. Someone said, "That is the worst news imaginable. Absolutely devastating!"
The previous remark was as follows: "We used to produce this item. Unfortunately, there were not enough sales to keep manufacturing going, therefore it was cancelled."
The customer support representatives who made the assertion might not have had all of the information at the time.