There’s a lot of great food out there.
But, despite the whole wide world of food available to us, we can’t help but look
back and think about all the great food items that are with us no longer.
Let’s all take some time to look back on some long-forgotten food items which were
once dietary staples for many of us.
Here are ten more discontinued food items we miss.
Hostess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies
We have to give it to Hostess.
The brand has come out with some of the best sugary snack foods of all time.
It breaks our hearts that so many of their greatest hits have been discontinued.
One of their discontinued products that we miss the most is their Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtle Pies.
The thing that stands out most about these pies is how massive they were.
However, kids were well up to the challenging of finishing them.
Dyed Ninja Turtle green, these pudding-filled pies couldn’t have looked less appetizing.
But appearances can be deceiving.
Filled with vanilla pudding and wrapped in a glazed pie crust, Hostess Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle Pies tasted too good to be true.
That’s why it’s such a shame that they were so short lived.
They were discontinued after a twenty-week run in the early nineties and, years later,
Hostess announced that they were only ever meant to be a limited-time promotion for the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise and wouldn’t be making a return.
This serves as a reminder that we’ve got to appreciate specialty food items like these
while they last, because you never know when they’ll disappear for good.
Coca-Cola with Lime
Back in the early 2000s, Coca-Cola released Diet Coke with Lime, a twist on the sugar-free
version of their classic soft drink that included a hint of lime flavoring.
When this diet soda received positive feedback from consumers, Coca-Cola decided to come
out with its full sugar counterpart.
Approximately one year later, Coca-Cola with Lime was born.
This new soft drink tasted very similar to regular Coke, but with an extra splash of
lime flavor.
Unfortunately, despite the initial popularity of Diet Coke with Lime, Coke with Lime fell
out of the mainstream pretty quickly.
Over the years, most of the countries where it was once available have been progressively
discontinuing it.
Some countries, like Romania, for example, have replaced this original product with variants,
such as Coca-Cola Lime Zero or Coca-Cola with Citrus Zest.
Today, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a bottle of Coca-Cola with Lime, and even the
sodas inspired by it aren’t widely available.
But it’s not such a tragedy – by squeezing some fresh limes into your regular Coke, you
can create something very similar to this now discontinued soft drink.
Doritos Fiery Habanero
Has there ever been a bad Doritos flavor?
Is it even possible to ruin the masterpiece that is this tortilla chip?
Probably not, and that’s why we get so salty when Doritos flavors are discontinued.
One such flavor is Doritos Fiery Habanero.
We don’t really need to try and convince you that this chip deserves a comeback; we’ll
let the Facebook group speak for itself.
Yes, there’s an entire Facebook page dedicated to petitioning for these chips to be brought
back.
It’s called “I Love Fiery Habanero Doritos Bring Them Back Frito-Lay!”.
The Facebook campaign hasn’t had any success in reviving this spicy Doritos variation.
However, that doesn’t mean we give up hope.
Maybe Fiery Habanero was just too hot for people to handle back when this flavor was
released in the early 2000s.
Hopefully, these Doritos will get a second chance someday, and maybe then they’ll be
appreciated for just how great they really are.
If there was ever a time to bring them back, it’s now.
Spicy food is finally getting the respect it deserves.
They were taken before their time, but now Doritos Fiery Habanero chips could truly thrive.
Oreo Big Stuf
The original Oreo cookie is one of the few food items we don’t have to worry about
being discontinued any time soon.
The same can’t be said for any of its several variations.
There have been dozens of spins on the cream filled cookie, some of which were successful,
others not so much.
Oreo Big Stuf is an example of one that didn’t thrive.
Released in the mid-eighties, Oreo Big Stuf was discontinued after less than a decade.
For those of you too young to remember this cookie, Oreo Big Stuf looked and tasted just
like a classic Oreo.
The only difference was that it was approximately ten times bigger.
Yep, you heard that right.
It was nothing short of massive.
At first glance, this giant cookie seems like something out of every kid’s wildest dreams.
But, when you actually stop to think about it, this cookie wasn’t all it was cracked
up to be.
First, there was the issue of eating it.
Everyone knows that the right way to eat an Oreo is to twist it then to dunk it (into
a tall glass of milk, of course).
This process is made challenging when the cookie won’t fit into a glass.
You have to swap the glass of milk out for a bowl of milk, and something about that just
feels wrong.
Then, there’s the issue of health.
Oreo Big Stuf was loaded with fat and sugar.
It wasn’t exactly something parents wanted to be feeding their children.
As a result, Oreo Big Stuf has been lost to time.
Despite its shortcomings, we have to respect it.
Come on, who wouldn’t want to eat a cookie the size of their head?
Powerpuff Girls Cereal
So many cereals inspired by pop culture trends have come and gone over the years.
One that we wish could get a revival is Powerpuff Girls cereal.
Based on the animated series from the late-nineties and early 2000s, this limited-edition cereal
was composed of classic crispy rice pieces mixed in with special “power-packed clusters”
that fizz when you put them in your mouth.
The fizzing definitely made eating this cereal a unique sensory experience.
It wasn’t for everyone, but it was a major selling point for many, especially for young
children.
The cereal pieces themselves were dyed pink, green, and blue, the colors corresponding
to the three Powerpuff Girls, Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles respectively.
This would be the perfect time for this cereal to be brought back, as the TV show was rebooted
in 2016.
Why not celebrate the return of the animated series with the return of the cereal?
While they’re at it, why not also revive the limited-edition Powerpuff Girls Pop-Tarts?
They were filled with a special Powberry jelly and topped with lavender frosting and Powerpuff
Girl sprinkles.
With both the cereal and the Pop-Tarts, we could really live our best lives and have
full Powerpuff Girl themed breakfasts.
Nabisco Swiss Cheese Crackers
If you grew up in the tail-end of the twentieth century, you probably remember Nabisco Swiss
Cheese Crackers.
They probably stick out in your memory for their shape, if nothing else.
True to their name, these crackers were shaped like pieces of Swiss cheese, holes and all.
Of course, appearance aside, they didn’t have much else in common with Swiss cheese.
They were crackers after all, and there’s only so much that can be done to flavor them.
However, they were salty and covered in the perfect amount of cheese powder, so, even
though they didn’t deliver exactly what their name promised, we’ll give them a pass.
Swiss Cheese Crackers were the ultimate after school snack and many people were upset when
they were discontinued.
If you’re Canadian, or live close to the Canadian border, you can get your hands on
the next best thing.
While they’re not exact replicas of Nabisco Swiss Cheese Crackers, The Christie Swiss
Cheese Cracker, which is sold in Canada under the Mr. Christie brand, does a good job of
filling the swiss-cheese shaped holes in our hearts.
If you ate the Nabisco crackers as a kid, the Mr. Christie ones are sure to kick up
all kinds of childhood nostalgia.
Lay’s WOW chips
Out of all the items included on this list, this is the only one where we feel that its
discontinuation might not have been a bad thing.
WOW chips were a branch of chips released by Frito-Lay under several of their most popular
brands.
They offered a fat-free alternative to several of the most popular chip brands, including
Tostitos, Doritos, Ruffles, and Lays.
When they were first released in the late nineties, many people thought they were a
fantastic creation.
Who wouldn’t want a healthier alternative to their favorite junk food?
However, it was soon discovered that WOW chips ... well, didn’t always agree with people,
to say the least.
WOW chips used olestra to replace their chip’s fat content.
Olestra is a zero-calorie fat substitute that used to be quite popular but is now the subject
of much controversy.
Around the time that Lay’s WOW chips hit shelves, it was widely believed that, when
eaten in large quantities, olestra acted as a laxative.
More recent studies have failed to support this claim, but olestra is currently banned
in Europe and Canada.
Very few people who ate WOW chips experienced these unpleasant side effects, but the rumors
themselves were enough to curb even the strongest appetites.
Mountain Dew Pitch Black
Mountain Dew Pitch Black is known for its unique flavor combination and distinctive
dark purple coloration – which is very unusual for a soda.
This soft drink is a recent discontinuation – it was available up until early 2019.
It’s been available on and off since its debut in the early 2000s.
This soda adds a grape twist to the classic citrus flavor of original Mountain Dew.
It was actually originally released as a Halloween promotion.
Thanks to its dark purple color, it was a fitting drink to be paired with this spooky
holiday.
It had such success during its initial limited release that it was brought back multiple
times afterwards for short runs.
In the United States, Mountain Dew Pitch Black came in Black Grape flavor.
This was later replaced by Citrus and Dark Fruit.
Internationally, this Mountain Dew variation came in Grape Citrus.
While it was known as Pitch Black in most countries where it was sold, this soda went
by Wild Black in South Korea and Alerte Noire in Canada.
Mountain Dew Pitch Black has been discontinued in most places, but it continues to be sold
in the American Midwest.
So, if you find yourself craving this particular soft drink, you know where to look.
Shark Bites
Gummy candies are a favorite among many, children and adults alike.
Betty Crocker’s chewy fruit snacks (which were made with real fruit!) were a delicious
and popular snack food during the eighties and nineties.
The gummies, which were shaped like sharks, came in red, orange, yellow, purple, green,
and blue, with each color representing a different fruit flavor.
The pairing of color and fruit were not as obvious as they usually are when it comes
to candy – the yellow shark was actually strawberry flavored, instead of lemon, as
would be expected.
There were also special opaque, white pieces, in reference to the Great White Shark.
The Great White Shark pieces weren’t the only special edition candies that could be
found in Shark Bites.
Sometimes, pieces shaped like shark teeth were thrown into the mix.
These candies were particularly entertaining, as they were designed in a way that allowed
children to place them over their own teeth.
They made you look more like a vampire than a shark, but that didn’t do anything to
kill the fun.
The third, and possibly most exciting special edition piece was the “ferocious” Tiger
Shark.
This piece was striped red, orange, and white, making it the prettiest piece in the Shark
Bites package, by far.
Technically, Shark Bites are still available.
However, they aren’t anything like they used to be back in the nineties.
If you were to pick them up hoping to relive your childhood, you’d be pretty disappointed.
Strawberry Newtons
There have been a lot of Newton cookie flavors released over the years.
Of course, the classic Fig Newton will never die, but the same can’t be said for some
of its newer variations.
This Nabisco cookie actually used to only come in the fig flavor, with the entire brand
being called Fig Newtons.
And that’s how things were for over one hundred years.
Yes, Fig Newtons really are that old - they were actually one of America's first commercially
baked food items!
But then, around 2010, the decision was made to expand on the success of the Fig Newton
and come out with other fruit flavors.
To accommodate this change, the Fig was dropped from the name, and the brand has been referred
to simply as Newtons ever since.
And, just to clarify, these cookies are named after the town of Newton, Massachusetts, not
Sir Isaac Newton, as many seem to think.
If you’re unfamiliar with Newtons, they are rectangular cookies filled with a fruit
paste.
They were originally inspired by fig rolls.
Out of all the different flavors that have been released, strawberry was particularly
delicious.
That, combined with the fact that strawberry is such a staple fruit flavor, have us shocked
that this food item could ever even be considered for discontinuation.
There are still a handful of flavors left, including mixed berry, apple cinnamon, and,
of course, fig, so we’ll just have to tide ourselves over with those from now on.
But the Strawberry Newton will be forever missed.
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