“These Had A Chokehold On Almost Every Millennial”: Adults Desperately Miss These Nostalgic Discontinued Foods (And I Forgot All About Some Of Them)
If you've ever wondered where all your favorite childhood snacks and drinks went, then you and I have a lot in common. Many of the foods, candies, and beverages that millennials grew up with definitely stood the test of time...but TBH, I think some of the best ones were discontinued (for dramatic or very low-key reasons) somewhere along the way.
These are just some of the items that I, a generally nostalgic '90s kid, am simply dying to get back – and I have a funny feeling that I'm not alone on many of these.
1.Wonder Ball
Remember that catchy jingle? "Oh I wonder, wonder what's in a Wonder Ball?" Apparently, the answer is: a choking hazard. Unsurprisingly, the original mid-'90s Wonder Ball was pulled off of shelves because the toys inside presented a severe choking hazard to small kids. They were re-released in the '00s with candy on the inside. Less fun, but probably safer.
2.Hi-C Ecto Cooler
This drink was absolutely legendary. Originally released as part of a promotion for the 1989 film Ghostbusters II, its hype outlasted that of the movie and it was sold as Ecto Cooler until 2001 — likely because it was just so darn delicious.
3.Philadelphia Cheesecake Snack Bars
There are nearly 40,000 signatures on an impassioned Change.org petition to start manufacturing these sweet treats again, yet we still don't have our beloved cheesecake bars back ??. This, my friends, is a sure sign of the apocalypse. While the internet is absolutely overflowing with copycat recipes, none of them will ever bring back the totally revolutionary original, and that's simply a crime.
4.PB Crisps
If you miss these as much as I do, you'll be thrilled to know that there's an entire website dedicated to bringing them back.
But back in 2017, Jim at Planters — who must be in charge of customer service or something — gave the people the intel they were looking for, sad as it may be:
@jonstefaniak @RealJoltCola @MrPeanut We appreciate the love for PB Crisps, unfortunately, there was not enough consumer demand for us to continue producing it. TY!
5.Creme Savers
These '90s hard candies slapped in a way that's still pretty impossible to explain. That said, after delighting Creme Savers fans (aka everyone) for many years, they were quietly discontinued in the early 2010s. But! As of this year, anyone who mourned the painful loss of these sweet 'n' creamy candies can grab a bag at Big Lots...and Big lots only.
6.Hubba Bubba Bubble Jug
There's nothing like shaking up a pink plastic container of powdered bubble gum, "chugging" it, then chewing it until it forms into a more-or-less flavorless mass of gum. This stuff lost its flavor real fast, but whatever. I was into it.
Even Redditors can't figure out exactly why this one was discontinued, but if you're yearning to once again fill your mouth with sand gum, you're in luck: Old Time Candy sells a version of this childhood favorite that they call "Sneaky Stardust," and I gotta say...it looks like the real deal.
7.Jell-O Pudding Pops
Jell-O Pudding Pops might just be the most quintessential example of "new-and-improved" not meaning "better." These icy, creamy treats were all the rage in the '80s and increased in popularity in the '90s...but they eventually ceased to turn a profit. General Foods licensed the Jell-O brand to Popsicle, who made their own version of the original Pudding Pop, but they just weren't the same as the original. Ultimately, Pudding Pops were pulled out of the freezer section forever, though KraftHeinz does have a DIY recipe listed on their website. (Will it be as good as actual Pudding Pops? NO.)
8.McSalad Shakers
Fast food joints still trying to serve us salad: Just copy the damn McSalad Shaker. McDonald's first foray into the salad arena tasted just OK, but getting to shake it all up with your mediocre-at-best dressing in a container that very closely resembled a McFlurry container was a priceless experience.
9.Orbitz
The drink's slogan, "texturally enhanced alternative beverage," honestly wins the award for the cringiest of all time. Actually, I lied! Their ad campaign that invited consumers to "embark on a tour into the bowels of the Orbiterium" definitely takes the cake.
Look, maybe this stuff wasn't great. Tiny gelatin balls floating around a clear bottle of syrupy liquid certainly doesn't sound appetizing to me, but the novelty of it all?! Untouched. Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on your POV — Orbitz was discontinued for good in 1997...the same year it was released. Yikes, yikes, yikes.
10.Yogos
a hoard of teenagers pile through the @KelloggsUS HQ, all chanting one thing. YOGOS YOGOS YOGOS YOGOSYOGOSYOGOS
11.Keebler Magic Middles
These cooks were better than "magic," they were heaven. Fudgy on the inside, perfectly crumbly on the outside, and I miss them daily.
These fan-favorite cookies were discontinued rather unceremoniously in 2011, just 10 years after they began production. The reason? This claim isn't verified, but legend has it that Keebler pulled Magic Middles so they could use the equipment that manufactured them for another product.
12.Sprite Remix
Tropical Sprite Remix lives in my head rent-free. The soda was originally released in 2002 in three flavors: Berryclear, Aruba Jam, and Tropical. Sprite Remix only made it three years before it was discontinued due to poor sales. It was (and I mean this with every fiber of my being) a true tragedy, as I've yet to taste a soda as genuinely refreshing as this stuff was.
13.Hershey's Kissables
To put it mildly — M&Ms could never. The extra-thick candy crunch on the outside of their candy kisses was cute, proudly rainbow-colored, and actually tasted really good. Not gonna lie, I still dream of these.
14.Rold Gold Honey Mustard Pretzels
For reasons that literally no one can figure out, Frito-Lay quietly pulled these off the shelves forever and replaced them with a less-good "cheddar" variety. The internet may be full of copycat recipes to get as close as possible to the sticky-sweet 'n' tangy flavor of the original, but until Frito-Lay decides to bring these back for good, I'll let you in on a little secret. The similar flavor from Dot's Pretzels is 95% as good as the Rold Gold one.
15.Hershey's Swoops
Whatever you thought of these chip-shaped chocolates, their instantly recognizable TV ad still plays in my mind to this very day. "Swoop, there it is" was a marketing triumph. Some hypothesize that they were discontinued due to their serving sizes. They were shaped like Pringles, and if you know anything about Pringles, you know how easy it is to devour an entire can in mere minutes. Swoops came six to a pack, so if you're eating them at a Pringle's rate, they'll be gone pretty quickly. For many consumers, it may have just not been worth it.
16.Cheetos Twisted Puffs
There's always been one Cheeto to rule them all. That, my friends, is the untouchable Twisted Puff. Many Cheetos products have come and gone, but IMO, Twisted Puffs were the greatest loss of all. Fans (me) praised their "softer crunch" that other Cheetos products just couldn't compare to, as well as their ability to hold a whooooole lotta cheesiness with all that spiral surface area. Regardless, Frito-Lay discontinued the beloved snack in 2013.
17.Ice Breakers Liquid Ice
Legend has it these ultra-powerful mints were discontinued when they acquired a reputation for being "bitter," which is likely a result of the artificial sweetener used in them. IMO, no other mint will ever compare. Seriously, these would give you fresh breath for days — and if nothing else, I'll always cherish watching Jessica Simpson realize that they're both "liquid and ice" in that viral TV ad.
18.Betty Crocker Warm Delights
My aunt used to keep these just-add-water dessert bowls in her pantry at all times, and TBH, they were delicious. As the self-proclaimed president of the Warm Delights fan club, I have a theory. Since each and every container of Warm Delights came in its own plastic serving bowl (bad for the environment!), I think Betty replaced them with the Mug Treats line since they're likely more cost-efficient to produce and use a lot less packaging.
19.McDonald's Snack Wraps
In 2016, McDonald's removed Snack Wraps from their American menu. We'll never know exactly why, though one Redditor claims a possible reason for their discontinuation was the time it took to make each wrap, which reduced overall profits as a result. In 2021, Snack Wrap diehards felt all the excitement when a TikToker, claiming to be a McDonald's employee, announced that they were coming back for good, but McDonald's has since stated that "there are no plans to bring Snack Wraps back to nationwide menus in the US or Canada." If you ever got to experience one of these, you know just how devastating that is.
20.Flintstones Push-Ups
I yabba-dabba-DO miss these frozen treats every day of my damn life. Technically, these still exist as "Push-Ups," sans any Flintstones branding. But if there aren't illustrations of the entire Flintstones fam all over my frozen treat, I'll have to pass.
21.Ouch! Bubble Gum
There's never been a gum that's lost its flavor as fast as Hubba Bubba's tinned Ouch! gum. Regardless, it's definitely the most fun I've ever had chomping on a piece of bubble gum, and only Fruit Stripes could come in a close second for those temporary tattoos on the wrapper.
22.Cotton Candy Bubble Yum
Speaking of gum: The real ones know that Cotton Candy was hands down the best Bubble Yum flavor, but although Bubble Yum is still technically around, this flavor disappeared into the void. Because we can never have nice things, apparently General Mills only manufactures two flavors of Bubble Yum these days: Original, and Jolly Rancher Blue Raspberry (?!?!). Neither of which is Cotton Candy.
23.Bagel-fuls
Bagel-fuls walked so Bantam Bagels — you know, the bagel bites with cream cheese filling at Starbucks — could run. Popping one of these bad boys into the toaster and burning my mouth on the molten cream cheese filling was peak millennial nostalgia. Sadly, Kraft discontinued the Bagel-fuls line around 2010, after just a few years of production. 16-year-old me was sad about it.
24.Tato Skins
Apparently, these were actually made with real potato skins?! Legend has it that these same chips, originally manufactured by Keebler, were sold to Inventure Foods which then brought 'em back as the TGI Friday's potato skins...but the original Tato Skins were so much better. The cheddar and bacon flavor?! *Chef's kiss.*
25.Pizzarias Pizza Chips
We may never know exactly what happened to these zesty, crunchy chips — which is especially mysterious considering the fact that Keebler once described them as “the most successful savory snack debut in their history." This might ruffle some feathers but...I'd take these over Doritos any day.
26.Bug Pops
There was simply nothing better than letting those frozen bug gummies slowly defrost in your mouth (while pretending you were an actual character from The Lion King), and I still long to feel that immense joy again.
27.Crystal Pepsi
Drinking crystal clear cola made for a kind of puzzling experience, but there's no denying this stuff was delicious. After being discontinued just two years after its launch, Pepsi has teased us numerous times with limited-release promotions — most recently in 2022 when they shared 300 bottles with lucky Twitter users. (If you were one of them, I hate you for it.)
28.McDonald's Fried Apple Pie
When the "healthy eating" movement swept through American fast-food establishments in the '90s, McDonald's handheld apple pies changed from ultra-crispy, deep-fried treats to baked, usually soggy afterthoughts. You can, however, still find deep-fried versions of this fan-favorite dessert...you'll just have to step outside of the continental US. Countries like the UK, Mexico, Brazil, and Greece still carry the deep-fried version, as well as McDonald's locations in Hawaii. So, like, if you somehow couldn't find a great reason to visit Hawaii before, getting your hands on one of these nostalgic classics might just be worth booking that flight.
29.Taco Bell's Caramel Apple Empanada
I'm not saying that Taco Bell's take on the McDonald's Apple was better than the source material...but I'm not not saying that. When the fan-favorite dessert was discontinued in 2019 (they had a good go!), a Taco Bell spokesperson said the following: “Even the sweetest things in life don’t last forever. While we are sad to confirm that the beloved Caramel Apple Empanada is no longer on menus nationwide, we encourage fans to spread their appreciation to our other amazing desserts."
30.Starburst Fruit Twists
Hot take: Twizzlers are usually trash, and these discontinued candies proved it. Starburst Fruit Twists were similar to Twizzlers in shape, but that's about it. The flavors were bold and fruity, and the texture was soft and chewy — a far cry from the dense formula of the classic Twizzler.
Apparently, these were discontinued due to poor sales, but some fans theorize that Hershey's, which manufactures Twizzlers, actually paid them off so Twizzlers wouldn't have any competition. Who knows!
31.Nestlé BonBons
True BonBons fans know that Dibs will never, ever compete when it comes to bite-size, snackable frozen ice cream treats. Believe it or not, there was a time when you could get a container of these for less than a dollar at the movies...but eventually, Nestlé revamped the brand with the launch of Dibs and phased BonBons out entirely.
32.Rice Krispies Treats Cereal
Rice Krispies? Fine. Rice Krispies Treats? Better. Rice Krispies Treats cereal?! Untouched. Like many of these nostalgic faves, Rice Krispies Treats Cereal was phased out, made a comeback with a slightly modified (read: less good) formula, and was then discontinued for good. In fact, Kellogg's confirmed this via Twitter in 2020, so it's not looking great for the RKT Cereal stans. That said, some Redditors swear that they're still able to find boxes of this stuff in their local Walmarts, so if you're desperate for your sugary rice cereal kick, it might be worth investigating.
33.Pizza Hut's Hershey Dunkers
Honestly, these weren't all that special. They were basically just breadsticks with little chocolaty chunks on the top. But something about dipping them into that molten Hershey's chocolate bath that would inevitably get all over your hands and face was the definition of bliss. I'd argue that these were the best thing to ever come out of Pizza Hut, TBH.
34.Slice
This fruit-flavored soda was introduced by PepsiCo in the '80s and positioned in the soft drink market as a competitor to other popular lemon-lime sodas, like Sprite and 7-Up. Slice, however, originally contained "10% fruit juice," which set it apart from the others. By the '90s, Pepsi got rid of the fruit juice entirely...which basically meant it was just like its competitors. In 2020, Pepsi replaced Slice with Sierra Mist in most markets.
35.Squeezits
In a world of squeezable, syrupy-sweet "fruit" drinks that came in kid-approved plastic bottles, Squeezits ruled them all. So yeah, I'm saying that Kool-Aid Bursts couldn't hold a candle to these nostalgic drinks. While Squeezits were all the rage for a long while, they were totally discontinued in 2001 when sales started slipping. As for why sales weren't so hot? It's hard to say exactly why, but it likely coincided with the general downfall of kid-oriented foods packed with loads of artificial colors and flavors...and yes, these things were literally neon, so...
36.Butterfinger BB's
While I don't really love a regular Butterfinger bar, Butterfinger BB's were, to put it simply, iconic. Maybe it was just that viral Simpsons ad campaign, but these had a chokehold on almost every millennial...until they were discontinued in 2006 after 14 years in production. We'll never know exactly why, but some folks hypothesize it had something to do with the fact that they were, well, pretty messy to eat. But licking the melted chocolate off your grubby lil' fingers was the best part of eating these, am I right?
37.Reese's Bites
Like Butterfinger BB's, Reese's really figured out the ultimate method for packing all the goodness of their original candy into the most portable, delicious form ever. Sure, they may have melted at the actual speed of light, but they were so worth every last messy morsel of chocolate coating your fingers. Allegedly, Hershey's halted production of Reese's Bites in the early 2000s when parents complained that the tiny, ball-shaped candies could present a choking hazard for young kids.
38.Kudos
The original Kudos bars were available in three flavors: chocolate chip, peanut butter, and fudge. But what I really remember are the flavors of the 2011 rebrand, which incorporated Mars candies like Dove chocolate, M&M's, and Snickers. I ate a Kudos bar for breakfast more times than I'd care to admit, so perhaps the downfall of Kudos came about when people realized that maybe a literal candy bar (with granola!) wasn't the complete breakfast it was branded as.
39.Ritz Bits S'mores
I'm genuinely curious about something: They kept Ritz Bitz Cheddar and Peanut Butter flavors on the shelves but decided to nix the greatest flavor of all time?! The brand went on the record via Twitter in 2016 to state that "Ritz Bits S'mores has been discontinued," and I've personally been waiting for these little bites of perfection to come back ever since.
40.Fruit String Thing
They were endlessly fun, they got stuck in every lil' nook and cranny of your teeth, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Betty Crocker really outdid herself with these, particularly when it came down to how darn exciting it was to unwrap one of these and slurp it up.
Fruit String Thing was pulled off of shelves in the early 2000s, with many citing that it was likely due to the "new wave" of healthy snacks being marketed to children. Plus, Betty Crocker sold and continues to sell two other massively popular fruit snacks in the same market, Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit Gushers, so the competition was pretty intense.
41.Heinz EZ Squirt
You either loved it or you really lost your appetite over it. No matter where you fell, Heinz's truly wild line of colorful ketchup definitely took America by storm in the early '00s. Originally released in Blastin' Green as a promo for the first Shrek film, kids went absolutely nuts for this stuff. But it wasn't long before kids simply lost interest, sales dwindled, and they pulled the line altogether in 2006.
42.Cheese Nips
Admitting this makes me an inherently chaotic person, but these were way better than Cheez-Its. I always found them to be crunchier and more satisfying to chomp on, and I even liked the cheddar-y flavor better. Some people think that Nabisco discontinued the crackers in 2020, but others think they still exist (but are harder to find as a result of COVID-era shortages). Either way, I haven't seen these in a hot minute — so if you find these at your local store, give me a holler.
43.Fruitopia
Feel like shit, just want her back
44.Altoids Sours
I saved the best for last. As a millennial with fond memories of sucking on these ridiculously sour "mints," I guess I always thought these were discontinued because they were so aggressively sour. Not quite a Warheads-level sour, but I'm pretty sure I walked around with ulcers in my mouth whenever I had a metal tin of these in my backpack. Well, I was wrong.
According to Bustle, who reached out to Altoids' parent company, Mars, "they just weren't popular enough to warrant continued production." Considering the fact that expired tins of Altoids Sours have sold for up to $1,000 on eBay, I ~personally~ find this a bit hard to believe...but regardless, I'm anxiously awaiting the moment when Altoids brings these fan favorites back.
