10 of Your Favorite Childhood Foods That Quietly Disappeared
The '90s and early '00s were an iconic time in the snack food industry. Food and beverage companies got super creative figuring out how to market "boring" foods like ketchup in a more interesting way to kids who went grocery shopping with their parents. Remember Heinz's E-Zee Squirt bottles or all those new (and often doubly-sugary) flavors to favorite sodas like Sprite and Pepsi? And though many of these trials weren't as successful as the big snack food companies may have hoped, every '90s kid remembers these beloved childhood foods fondly.
So we're taking you on a trip down memory lane! Below, take a look back at a few of your favorite discontinued snacks that quietly disappeared off store shelves. They might be gone, but these childhood foods will never be forgotten.
And for more nostalgia, check out these 15 Classic American Desserts That Deserve a Comeback.
Shark Bites
Fruit snacks were a staple in every '90s kid's lunch box, and you knew it was going to be a good day when your parents threw in a pack of these. They had the weirdest fruit snack texture, but that didn't stop us from trading colors with our friends in the cafeteria.
Swoops
It's the shape of a Pringle, but it's solid chocolate flavored like some of your favorite chocolate candy like Crunch Bars and Reese's? Sign. Us. Up. Unfortunately, these didn't take off because people thought they were chocolate-covered potato chips (which also sounds delicious), but that doesn't mean that they weren't amazing. Plus, does anyone else remember their "Swoop, there it is!" commercials? Iconic.
Sprite Remix
Though Sprite is releasing tropical takes on their classic lemon-lime soda, '90s kids still remember the OG flavors from the first Sprite Remix launch, including Berryclear and Aruba Jam. The rivalry between flavor stans was fierce, but at the end of the day, everyone just really loved the soda—and their fun commercials, too.
Dunkaroos
Dunkaroos are officially back—they're out in select 7-Eleven stores right now and will be rolled out in grocery stores in July, according to their website—but we're still including them because they were discontinued for a (very sad) period of time. The cookie and frosting combo stuffed into one easy package made for a very fun snacking experience.
Butterfingers BBs
Butterfingers BBs walked so Reese's Pieces could run. Yes, it's true. See, even if you aren't the biggest Butterfinger fan in the world, you couldn't resist popping a few of these little nuggets in your mouth if a bag was being passed around. They had all the goodness of a Butterfinger bar packed into a tiny pellet, which made for a delightfully crunchy snacking experience.
Wonder Ball
What could possibly be better than a ball of chocolate? A ball of chocolate filled with candy and even toys and stickers inside, obviously. Unfortunately, Wonder Balls were said to have posed a choking hazard for younger children, leading to the sweet treat being discontinued. But we'll always remember unwrapping that Wonder Ball foil with glee.
Doritos 3Ds
Regardless of whether you're Team Cool Ranch or Team Nacho Cheese, we can all agree that Doritos' greatest invention was the little puffed up triangles that were Doritos 3Ds. They had all the taste of your favorite Doritos flavors with the textural intrigue of a puffy chip—it really was a match made in heaven. But alas, Doritos is sticking to their tried-and-true (albeit flatter) classic chips.
Squeezits
Do you remember those commercials with the weird bottle "characters" being strangled by children telling you to "squeeze the fun out of it"? Just us? Well, despite the rather interesting commercials, these drinks were so much fun to bring to lunch. Whether you had one of the OG flavors, the ones that came in the blacked-out bottles so the flavor was a mystery, or sipped on one that came with the little color-changing capsules, we'll remember them forever.
Altoids Sour
Whoever brought these to school was totally the ~cool~ kid. Whipping out an Altoids tin made you feel like you were so mature, but these had all the snacking power of Sour Patch Kids. Remember giving them to someone who didn't know what they were and watching their face pucker up from the sourness? What a time.
Fruitopia
Made to compete with Snapple, Fruitopia was so culturally relevant in the '90s that it was mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons. It had interesting names like "Strawberry Passion Awareness," "Citrus Consciousness," and "Lemonade Love and Hope"—none of which sound reasonable for today's consumers—but we still loved the fruit-flavored drinks nonetheless.
For more, check out these 108 most popular sodas ranked by how toxic they are.
