Viral Discovery of 20-Year-Old Snack Wrapper Sparks Debate on Inflation, Food Processing, and Plastic Pollution

The internet loves nostalgia but it loves strange discoveries even more. That combination came together this week after a man claimed to have unearthed an old Kurkure packet buried deep underground, complete with a printed price of just ₹2 and an expiry period of three months.The find, shared online, quickly went viral, turning a dusty snack wrapper into a conversation starter about inflation, food processing, and most loudly plastic pollution. Screenshots of the post began circulating across platforms like Reddit and Instagram, where users zoomed in on the faded but still legible packaging. The discovery struck many as surreal: years underground, yet the wrapper appeared intact enough for people to read the ingredients, manufacturing details, and that eye-catching ₹2 price tag.Scroll down to read more.A snack wrapper that felt like a “time capsule”According to the viral caption, the packet surfaced while soil was being dug up. Dirty and torn around the edges, it was still readable, prompting the poster to describe it as “a tiny time capsule”.Several details immediately caught attention. The price, of course, felt unbelievable to younger viewers used to paying ₹10, ₹20, or more for the same snack today.Then there was the “best before” period: only three months from manufacture, compared to the longer shelf lives commonly seen on packaged foods now.by Taboolaby TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored LinksPromoted LinksPromoted LinksYou May LikeGrand HIT Arrives – Mumbai 3.0GRANDHITMUMBAI3.0Learn MoreUndoThe ingredient list also appeared shorter, and the absence of palm oil, at least as explicitly mentioned, sparked speculation about how recipes may have changed over time.The poster added that the snack “tasted different” years ago and wondered whether today’s longer shelf life might be linked to more stabilisers or preservatives. Those lines struck a chord, triggering a wave of memories from people who grew up eating the snack in the early 2000s and a fair amount of scepticism from others.Netizens zoom in on plastic, not just the priceWhile some commenters joked about how cheap snacks once were, many quickly shifted focus to something far less amusing: the fact that the wrapper survived underground for so long.One user wrote bluntly, “Plastic never degrades,” while another pointed out how unsettling it was that the packet remained readable after years in the soil. Others widened the lens, imagining how much plastic might be accumulating in land and water and eventually entering human bodies through microplastics.There was certainly an element of humor intertwined in the discussions, which is quite common in online exchanges. Some users couldn't resist cracking jokes about what the original poster had been unearthing, while others made light-hearted allusions to crime thrillers to add to the fun. However, beneath the surface of these memes and playful banter, the undercurrent of environmental anxiety was palpable and unmistakable.This forgotten wrapper had transcended its trivial existence to become a poignant symbol of how persistent and stubborn plastic waste can be, lingering in our environment long after the last remnant of the snack inside has vanished into oblivion.Why the packet set off a storm onlineAs the post spread, readers also began asking questions about its authenticity. How old was the packet really? Had it truly been underground for more than a decade? Could it have been buried more recently?The Instagram post, shared by the handle “puran_polio”, quickly crossed tens of thousands of views, with hundreds of comments dissecting everything from the font style on the packaging to the ingredient list at the back. Online sleuths enlarged the image for clues, debating whether the design matched what they remembered from years ago. For now, the claims around the packet’s exact age remain unconfirmed, leaving room for speculation and keeping the conversation alive.Why a dusty wrapper hit such a nervePart of the fascination is simple economics. Rising prices make reminders of cheaper days feel startling, and a ₹2 snack packet is instant nostalgia for an entire generation.However, the more significant reason this particular story resonates with so many people may be tied to environmental concerns. Observing a plastic wrapper emerging from beneath the soil after a number of years, still remaining largely unchanged, renders the abstract issue of pollution much more tangible and relatable. It is one thing to come across statistics that discuss the volume of plastic waste; it is an entirely different experience to gaze at a photograph depicting a snack packet that has outlasted the very moment it was created for.