Do restaurants add water or milk to salad dressing to make it go further?

[raccoon]

I've been to some restaurants where I had salad with ranch dressing, and the dressing is lots less thick than
it is straight out of the bottle.

[Kali]

1. my homemade ranch is much thinner than the gelatinous crap from a bottle

go by flavor rather than "thickness"

[surrealAmerican]

2. Does the bottled stuff you use ...

... contain "thickeners" like gelatin or starch?

[MicaelS]

3. Maybe they make their own, and don't add

Commercial thickeners.

[dr.strangelove]

4. I doubt they add it, they just buy it that way

Granted its been many years, but when I was bartending, every place I worked bought dressing in giant tubs. I'm sure it was far cheaper than the name brands at stores and was thinner for that reason, among others.

[Maine-ah]

5. many times it's a brand name that is the packer

for the foodservice brands. Example...salad dressings usually come in a 4/1gal case. If it's Sysco or a USF brand, it was probably packed for them by Ken's.

[dr.strangelove]

6. True

many name brands produce a different product for bulk clients than home clients as well. Often cheaper to produce, they also often have a longer shelf life. I still can not shake to horror of a gallon tub of blue cheese dressing. Eww!

[Maine-ah]

7. shelf stable items scare me a bit.

Like pc creamers.

[dr.strangelove]

8. I'm with you

Cream should go bad. If it doesn't, I'm not putting it in my body.