Entertainment
Top 10 Discontinued Snacks That Need to be Brought Back
You know, there are few things in this world that people are more passionate about than their snack food. The comfort and happiness these snacks bring us are like our favorite TV shows. And just like when our favorite TV show is canceled, we get angry and demand it to be brought back! See if your missing munchies are found on the Top 10 Discontinued Snacks That Need to be Brought Back!
10. Planters Cheez Balls
Those who thought that Planters only did peanuts obviously haven’t tried their delicious Cheez Balls. Back in the 1980s, the home of Mr. Peanut stepped away from their salty nuts to give the world some cheesy balls, and it worked. People loved them instantly and for anyone who grew up in the 1990s, these orange balls of “cheese” were a snack staple. And while things looked good heading into the 21st Century, in 2006 Planters discontinued the Cheez Balls for some wistful and unknown reason. But fans of the snack were not going to give up that easily. For the next 12 years, Cheez Ball lovers petitioned the company to bring their favorite snack back, and eventually, Planters did exactly that. In 2018, Planters brought the Cheez Balls back (although now new and improved) and made them available on Amazon and at some Walmart locations. But before you run out to get some, we should probably tell you that this re-release was a limited run only and you will have to do some searching to find any canisters still available – if you can find any at all. The good news is, that unlike other snacks on this list, there are plenty of other brands of cheese balls on the market. So, while it may not be the Planters version, there are other options to satisfy your desire for a puffed ball of cheese-flavored snacking goodness.
9. PB Max
The inclusion of the PB Max on this list should in no way suggest that we don’t like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Because we most definitely do. They are amazing and, like you, we are very happy they are in no danger of being discontinued. However, given how perfect peanut butter and chocolate go together, we do miss the PB Max. As you can probably guess, the “PB” in PB Max stands for peanut butter. This creation from the Mars company came out in the late 80s/early 90s and consisted of a whole grain cookie topped with creamy peanut butter and then the whole thing is encased in milk chocolate. Really, what is there not to like about that? Nothing, of course. And if the sales were any indication, the public thought the PB Max was as delicious as it sounds. The PB Max did very well and racked up over $50 million in sales. So why did it go away almost as quickly as it arrived? Well, according to a former executive at the Mars company, the Mars family didn’t like peanut butter so, despite the great sales numbers, they discontinued it. That might be the craziest reason for discontinuing a product that we have ever heard of. Come on, they didn’t have to eat it. They just had to take in all the profits from everyone else eating it – and yet, their distaste for peanut butter was so strong that they just couldn’t have one of their products associated with the stuff! Madness!
8. JELL-O 1 2 3
We are going way back in snack food history for this one. All the way back to 1969 when Neil Armstrong was setting foot on the moon and Jell-O gave the world their 1-2-3. This wasn’t the Jell-O we all know and love today. Well, actually it was the Jell-O we know today but that was only one-third of this amazing creation the company put out. 1967 saw the Summer of Love and Woodstock happened in 1969. It was a time when people were coming together in ways the world hadn’t seen before. And the same is true when it came to Jell-O 1-2-3, as three layers of Jell-O were brought together to create peace, harmony, and love… and gelatin. So what was it exactly? Well, Kraft called this amazing creation “gelatin with two toppings” except you didn’t have to make three different Jell-Os because Jell-O made them for you. All you had to do was add the boiling water and then put it in the fridge for a few hours. While in the fridge the magic Jell-O fairy would come and divide the mixture into three layers: a gelatin layer, topped with a custard layer, all underneath a spongy layer of yumminess. How did they do it? We probably don’t want to know. All we want is for Jell-O to bring it back.
7. 3D Doritos
Doritos is famous for their seemingly constant release of new chip flavors. But with 3D Doritos, it wasn’t about the flavor, but a whole new shape they were going with. Rather than the same old flat triangle, 3D Doritos puffed them up to create a three-dimensional triangle. This new fangled version kind of looked like Doritos and Bugles had a chip baby, that was puffy, crunchy, and nacho cheese-flavored! The 3D Doritos launched with a big marketing campaign behind them in 1998, but only a few years later in the early 2000s, they had disappeared from store shelves. Why Doritos why? While there are definitely many of us who were big fans of the chip, it wasn’t enough to save them from discontinuation. Not for lack of trying by fans though – who have continued to send the company letters and messages on social media asking them to please bring back the 3D goodness. At this point, it doesn’t appear to be in the cards, but there is a silver lining for 3D Dorito fans. Or should we say a green, white and red lining. While the snack is no longer available in North America, or almost anywhere else in the world, they are still producing 3D Doritos for the Mexican market. If you don’t feel like taking a trip to Mexico just for a bag of chips, there are people who have claimed to be able to find the item on eBay. So, you could look there before trying to make any major travel plans.
6. Eggo Waf-Fulls
Yes, the name does sound very much like “awful” especially if you say it fast enough (Eggo Waffles, Eggo Wawffles, Eggo Awfuls…) but these Eggo concoctions were anything but. These amazing waf-fulls were no ordinary Eggo. They were stuffed with strawberry filling and were, to quote at least one fan who misses them greatly, “out of this world good!” And how could they not be crazy good? Everyone knows that you only make something better when you stuff it with sweet fruit filling, right? Sure, a few strawberries baked into a waffle is good, but a waffle filled to the edges with strawberries is so much better! We don’t know why these didn’t work at the time. But all we can assume is that the world just wasn’t ready for such an amazing addition to their breakfast plates. Not only should Eggo definitely bring this one back, but they should add a blueberry one, and a chocolate stuffed one to the line as well. And while we understand where the name comes from, they might want to look at changing that as well. It just doesn’t sound so tasty when rolling off the tongue.
5. Yogos
While many of the items on this list are variations or flavor versions of still available snacks, that is sadly not the case with this amazing item. Yogos was a whole category unto itself and one that we wish would come back and soon. Yogos were a Kellogs creation that consisted of small balls of fruit, covered in yogurty goodness. It almost sounds too healthy to be a snack. But that’s even more of a reason to bring them back in this day and age, where folks are trying to cut down on the junk food in their diets (the box hyped the snacks as being a good source of calcium and vitamin C). These little bites of fruity and yogurt heaven came in a whole host of flavors from Strawberry Slam to Crazy Berries and everything in between. Like many discontinued snacks, Yogos has a pretty big and dedicated fan base who have set up campaigns and petitions to try and get Kellogs to bring back their beloved childhood snack. But as of this moment, Yogos is still only available as a snack memory for those who were lucky enough to have tried them back in the day.
4. Philadelphia Snack Bars
Of course, we all know the Philadelphia brand for making the greatest cream cheese in the world. And while many of us have probably grabbed a spoon to eat the stuff like it’s a snack, that isn’t what we are talking about here. We are talking about that ridiculously delectable and decadent snack the wonderful minds at the company created back around the turn of the 21st century. Philadelphia Snack Bars were meant to simulate a cheesecake and consisted of a graham cookie topped with a whole load of cream cheese and a filling – such as strawberry (they also had chocolate chip, plain, marble brownie, etc). If you don’t remember these treats, then there might be a hole in your snack soul that will never be filled – unless they bring them back one day. And currently, it doesn’t seem like there’s any chance of that happening anytime soon. But, the good news is, that in addition to all the petitions and fan sites dedicated to getting Philadelphia to re-release these little wonders, there’s also a whole lot of websites and videos featuring recipes attempting to replicate these snacks at home. So, it might not be an exact match, but you should still be able to get pretty close to the cheesecake snack bar so many of us still crave to this day.
3. PB Crisps
How does this sound: “Sweet peanut buttercream inside. Crispy cookie outside.” Yup, it sounds pretty amazing and makes us even sadder that the PB Crisps have gone the way of so many other delectable snacks. The PB Crisps were brought into the snack world back in the early 1990s by Planters. Known for their peanuts, it only made sense that Planters would look at expanding their snack game with a peanut-based option. What made these treats so much fun? The crispy cookie shell was made into the shape of a peanut which was then filled with creamy peanut butter, making for a great bite-size option for when your daily snack attack would come around (they even had chocolate crisps and PB&J Crisps). But, unfortunately, what seemed like an automatic snack homerun back in 1992 ended up striking out and was pulled from the game just three years later in 1995 – although that hasn’t stopped fans from begging Planters to bring them back. You might assume sales didn’t meet Planters’ expectations and that is why the snack was discontinued. However, according to the Planters wiki page the reason the PB Crisps were taken off the shelves was that “they were too delicious.” (we assume that part was added by a super fan and not anyone related to the Planters organization).
2. Altoids Sours
People seem to like sour candies as much as they like spicy food. Which is a lot. It feels like almost every candy brand has introduced a sour version of their snack at one point or another. And Altoids are no exception. According to some folks on the internet, the “curiously strong mints” you know as Altoids today, don’t hold a candle to previous incarnations of the little treats – particularly the sour ones. In 2004, Altoids introduced their sour mints, and right out of the gate they gave us five flavors: raspberry, lime, apple, tangerine, and mango. People may have argued about what the best flavor was, but they all seemed to agree that these sour treats were an amazing experience to behold, and a real visceral experience (the extreme sourness caused mega pucker-face on all those who tried them). And that appears to have been half the fun of these things. One fan commented online about how they preferred the Altoid Sours over the traditional mint, even though they burned the roof of your mouth. Just like how consumers love testing the limits of their spice tolerance, they like taking sour to the extreme as well, and there’s certainly a lot of folks who miss these mints very very much. In fact, since being discontinued in 2010, many Facebook pages, Reddit threads, and online petitions have been set up to get Wrigley to bring them back. Some people crave them so much that you can find them buying unopened tins on eBay for $100! Umm… how much is a puckered up sour-face really worth?
1. Reese’s Elvis Cups
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are truly one of the kings of the candy world, so it only makes sense that they would have created a special edition of their snack to honor the King of Rock n’ Roll himself, Elvis Presley. It also makes sense given that Elvis is famous for his love of peanut butter and banana sandwiches (if you’ve never tried them, they are actually quite tasty). And with Resse’s already deep into the peanut butter game, adding banana to their cups was really a no-brainer. Picture the classic Reese’s Cup with an added layer of banana cream to go along with the peanut butter, all inside the iconic chocolate cup. Our mouths are watering just thinking about them – but alas, they were only around for about a year in 2007. So, unless we finally perfect that time machine we’ve been working on, this craving will just have to go unsatisfied. Why the company hasn’t made them a yearly tradition and released them every year on Elvis’ birthday, is beyond us. Although if they did, with such a limited window of availability, we all might just binge our way into looking like Elvis from his Las Vegas days. It would be totally worth it, though!