18 Discontinued Snacks That '90s Kids Are Still Mourning

The easiest way to lure a millennial into conversation is to bring up nostalgia as a way to distract them from the harsh realities of adulthood. Something like iconic TV shows, stores in the mall, toys, and the one that unites us all — food. Many snacks that were popular in the '90s are still around today, though they may not taste the same as you remember. Some Reddit users claim that treats like Reese's peanut butter cups, Little Debbie snack cakes, and Butterfinger have changed their recipes from what we might remember, but there are a handful of snacks that no longer exist today that '90s kids still yearn for.

Although many of these snacks no longer exist, their memories remain fresh. The experience of shopping for them is a fun reminder of childhood and the innovations in food that '90s kids were privileged to experience. These days, we may only see them as grainy product photos on nostalgia-themed Instagram accounts or as TikToks of old commercials, but let's take a trip down memory lane to relive some of the best discontinued snacks from the '90s.

Any fruit snack connoisseur's ears will perk up at the mention of Shark Bites. The Fruit Corners brand promised "a ferocious feeding frenzy of fruity fun" with fruit snacks that resembled different shark species like hammerheads, mako, tiger, and great white sharks. Many '90s kids reflect on their favorite piece, the opaque great white shark, tasting the absolute best out of the pack, though we won't judge you if you preferred purple.

While Betty Crocker brought back the Shark Bites in the 2010s, these beloved fruit snacks have been lost to time. Though there are plenty of fruit snacks available on shelves today, none quite live up to the hype of Shark Bites with the prize inside. There was something special about the opaque pieces that '90s kids are still on the hunt for in fruit snacks today. While millennials may hope they make a return, these famed lunchbox treats will likely remain extinct.

If you find yourself browsing the r/nostalgia subreddit, you're likely to find at least one post about PB Max. They were originally introduced in 1989 by Mars, Inc., which also makes candies like MnMs, Milky Way, and Twix. According to the commercial, the PB in PB Max doesn't stand for "piggy banks, polka band, or portly ballerina," but peanut butter. Each candy bar was a tasty concoction of peanut butter, milk chocolate, and a crunchy, whole-grain cookie.

Despite generating millions in sales, it's alleged that Mars pulled PB Max from the shelves in 1994 because the Mars family didn't like peanut butter. This story was revealed in the 1998 book "The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars" by Joël Glenn Brenner, though this has not been corroborated elsewhere. Regardless of why it no longer exists, its fans would love to see the return of PB Max.

If there's anything on this list with a cult-like following, it's the Choco Taco. Whether you found this novelty ice cream treat in the freezer section of your grocery store or the local ice cream truck, it was like no other. The taco-shaped waffle cone with vanilla ice cream and chocolate coating was, and remains, unlike anything else on the market. After being introduced in the '80s, the Choco Taco was discontinued in 2022 as part of the brand's "streamlining" strategy.

As fans wait patiently for Klondike to hopefully one day bring back this nostalgic treat, there are other ways to fill the Choco Taco void in the meantime. You can always try to make them yourself, or see if you can find dupes at your local creamery. In the end, nothing will ever live up to the original, and 90s kids keep their fingers crossed that one day they come back.

For anyone who loved breakfast on the go, Carnation Breakfast Bars were a can't-miss item. With flavors like peanut butter and chocolate chip, these chocolate-covered nut and oat bars were advertised as a meal replacement. In fact, the advertisements for these bars claimed that "with a glass of milk, one bar has as much nourishment as bacon and egg breakfast." While the nutrition of these bars might be up for debate, the love for them is not.

It's difficult to find exact information on the introduction of Carnation Breakfast Bars, since it predates the internet; However, anecdotal evidence and photocopies of old advertisements place these treats as a 1970s invention. According to Snack History, they appeared on the market in 1975, only to be discontinued in 1997. As delicious as many of these former breakfast bars were, the Nestlé brand doesn't seem inclined to bring them back anytime soon.

Despite the name invoking an image of a tall, refreshing beverage, the Lemon Coolers were a cookie snack produced by Sunshine Biscuits. The green and yellow boxes were filled with round cookies coated in a generous helping of powdered sugar and were made with "100% natural lemon flavor." The cookies themselves were small, but their flavor packed a punch, at least when they were available.

Sadly, these beloved cookies were discontinued when Keebler bought out Sunshine Biscuits in 1996, along with several of Sunshine's other cookie products. Although other brands make lemon-flavored cookies, Reddit and Facebook users alike claim that they just don't live up to the hype of the original. Since Keebler bought out Sunshine Biscuits, it's safe to say these cookies won't be coming back in the near future. But rest assured, if they ever come back, '90s kids will be the first to purchase them.

If you ever yearned for a campfire s'more without having to light a match, Nabisco's Suddenly S'Mores were the snack for you. Likely the first treat of its kind, these microwavable cookies launched nationally in 1990 and made making s'mores a breeze. The graham cracker was described as being perfectly centered between a hard and soft cookie that was dipped in chocolate and stamped with the word "s'mores", but after you popped them in the microwave, these cookies transformed.

Once warmed, the gooey marshmallow melted together with the chocolate coating on the cookies to create an at-home experience like no other. While waiting for the microwave to do its job, kids could watch the marshmallow expand in the heat, making for both a visually pleasing and tasty adventure. It's believed they were only out for a few years, but those who enjoyed them would love to have them back.

When browsing nostalgia-themed subreddits, you're likely to come across a post or two about Sodalicious. Released in 1991, these fruit snacks were shaped like mugs and bottles and tasted like iconic soda flavors, including root beer and cherry cola. At one point, the brand partnered with 7UP to create flavors inspired by the popular soda brand. Each gummy had a sugary coating that helped mimic the popping carbonation of bubbles in soda, both in looks and taste.

If you ask almost everyone who had these before they were discontinued in 1998, they would agree that the Sodalicious fruit snacks were, in fact, so delicious. Some Reddit users like to reminisce on the way they would eat the snacks by biting off the "lid" and pretending to drink the soda. While the snack may no longer exist, Sodalicious fans can still enjoy the many imitation candies that deliver the same experience.

Ask any millennial if they remember Kudos, and their eyes will light up like it's Christmas morning. Marketed as a granola bar, Kudos were meant to be a healthier alternative to standard candy bars. When they were released in 1986, the three main flavors were nutty fudge, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Eventually, Kudos came in flavors like MnM, Dove chocolate, and Snickers.

Anyone who tried a Kudos bar will remember it like it was yesterday. They were chewy and crispy at the same time, and the chocolate made them taste just like candy. Admittedly, they weren't as nutritionally healthy as the granola bars they were marketed as, but that didn't make kids love them any less. Manyhave distinct memories of trading these in the cafeteria, taking them on trips, and having them post-sports games. Kudos were unfortunately discontinued in 2017, but '90s kids still hold out hope that they'll make a return someday.

Pop-Tarts tend to get pretty creative, so it's not uncommon for a flavor you once loved to come and go. The flavors range from the standard brown sugar cinnamon and frosted strawberry to banana bread and lemon blueberry crumble. Pop-Tart has even begun dipping its toes into frozen products with Pop-Tart ice cream sandwiches, but nothing will ever quite live up to its creations from the '90s.

Introduced in 1999, the Wild Magicburst Blue Raspberry Striped Pop-Tarts were a love letter to the flavors and food innovations of the '90s. The outside featured white frosting with white sprinkles that, when toasted, revealed a rainbow of color, while the inside was filled with a blue raspberry and cream striped filling that was out of this world. The color-changing sprinkles and the texture of the filling set them apart, even though they were discontinued a few short years later. Despite petitions to reintroduce these pastries, it's unlikely that Kellogg's will bring back this magical treat.

We'd love to explain what the Jell-O Pudding Pops were, but the name really gives it away. According to nostalgic fans, these frozen pudding treats came in chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate vanilla flavors. They were originally introduced in the 1970s and slowly surged in popularity over the next couple of decades, with a texture unlike anything else being sold at the time. So, what happened to Jell-O Pudding Pops?

Despite the high sales, they simply didn't turn a profit for the Jell-O brand. An attempt was made to reintroduce the product under the Popsicle name in 2004, but ultimately, their lifespan was short. In browsing Reddit comments lamenting the loss of such a treat, users also feel that the product was tainted by the brand's use of disgraced comedian and television star Bill Cosby to promote the brand. Since attempts to bring back pudding pops were unsuccessful, your best bet is to attempt to recreate them at home.

Introduced by the Planter's brand in 1992, PB Crisps were a peanut-shaped snack made with a crispy cookie outside and a creamy filling. The three flavors sold were peanut butter, chocolate, and strawberry with peanut butter, all with the same cookie coating. Unfortunately, their time in stores was relatively short-lived, as the snack seems to have been discontinued sometime around 1995.

Consumers who remember PB Crisps are dedicated to bringing them back. In fact, there's an entire website dedicated to petitioning Hormel Foods to put this snack back on the shelves, complete with instructions on how to contact the treat's owners Hormel and Planters. However, a 2017 tweet from the brand confirmed that the demand simply wasn't high enough for these to last. While it's not likely they'll ever make a return, the former kids who loved these snacks can find comfort in knowing that they're not alone.

The origin of devil's food cake may be hotly debated, but the cookies inspired by the treat are not. In 1992, the brand SnackWells made its debut with a line of fat-free cookies, including the devil's food cookie cakes. The memorable green packaging contained chocolate cake-style cookies enrobed in a thin layer of marshmallow and chocolate.

Unfortunately, the SnackWell's brand was retired in 2022, and as a result, its cookies went with it. Though the devil's food cookies were mostly remembered for their squishy and bouncy texture, the SnackWell's brand could also be associated with The SnackWell's Effect. Because the cookies were advertised as fat-free, consumers who followed '90s and 2000s diet trends were more inclined to eat more of these supposedly healthier options and ultimately consumed more calories. That being said, anyone who tried these cookies remembers how delicious they tasted, regardless of the supposed health benefits.

There was something about pizza and pizza-flavored things really taking the world by storm in the '90s, whether it was Combos, or Pringles, or the Keebler's Pizzarias. Potentially encouraged by the popularity of the 1987 animated TV show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or its bizarre 1990 live-action film, pizza was definitely on every kid's mind.

Most people are likely to recognize the Keebler brand in association with cookies; however, they once sold a line of pizza-flavored chips called Pizzarias. These triangle-shaped chips were launched in 1991 and came in the flavors Cheese Pizza, Pizza Supreme, and Zesty Pepperoni.

Despite Pizzarias being described as Keebler's "most successful savory snack debut", they were eventually discontinued when the Keebler brand was sold to new owners in 1996. Though other pizza-flavored snacks still exist today, users of Reddit and Facebook alike argue that nothing will ever live up to the taste of Pizzarias.

Candy bars are a food group all their own, and many '90s kids have memories of picking out their favorites at concession stands, grocery store check-out lines, or the movies. Some candy bars even had bite-size variations like Buncha Crunch and Butterfinger BB's, but not all have stood the test of time.

In 1992, Butterfinger BB's were introduced as a small ball of the crunchy Butterfinger filling surrounded by a layer of chocolate. There's some debate behind why Butterfinger BB's were discontinued in 2006, but it's possible that it had to do with the chocolate's melting point. Unlike its competitor M&M's, which "melts in your mouth, not in your hands", Butterfinger BB's weren't able to figure out the science behind non-meltable chocolate. Perhaps if they ever decide to revamp the recipe, Nestlé may do '90s kids a favor and bring them back. But until that day comes, a standard Butterfinger candy bar will have to do.

It's hard not to remember the iconic commercials with Snap, Crackle, and Pop advertising various Rice Krispies products over the years. Starting in 1993, this trio introduced Rice Krispies Treats Cereal, puffed rice clusters glued together with marshmallow. It was the perfect marriage of the standard cereal and the bars the brand is so famous for.

Unlike most of the items on this list, Rice Krispies Treats Cereal lasted for a long time. After its release in 1993, the cereal was eventually discontinued in 2020 due to low demand. Reddit users seem surprised by this reasoning for a cereal that was so well-liked, but the brand did what it felt was necessary. Even though these no longer exist, you can always buy empty boxes for sale on eBay, DIY your very own version, pour them in a bowl, and pretend you're a kid again.

If you grew up in the '90s, you'll remember that the best way to start off the weekend was to sit down in front of your favorite Saturday morning cartoons. Shows like Blue's Clues and Rugrats dominated Nickelodeon and were the talk of the playground. With their popularity among kids, it's no wonder that a kids' snack like applesauce would collaborate with these shows.

At the tail end of the '90s, Motts introduced two new applesauce flavors to appeal to kids, the most memorable of which seems to be the blue berry-flavored Blue's Clues applesauce. Alongside it were also the green or red Rugrats applesauce varieties that came in watermelon and fruit punch. It's unclear how long these were available for purchase, but they were a short-lived product. In the meantime, we can only hope that Mott's decides to do '90s kids a favor and bring back these fun, flavored applesauces.

Once upon a time, Lunchables had a collaboration with Taco Bell that provided the same great taste of its fast food favorites from the comfort of your home. There were two varieties: The beef tacos that came with three soft taco shells, beef, shredded cheese, hot sauce, candy, and a drink, and the nachos that came with small, round chips, queso, salsa, candy, and a drink.

While bagged meat might not sound particularly appealing, the tacos were the peak cool kid lunch item to see in an elementary school cafeteria. Even Reddit users who had the beef tacos reminisce on the cold, bagged meat, but recognize that they still loved them all the same. And the nachos always tasted best when dipping the chips in both the salsa and the cheese together.

Though Lunchables does still sell nachos, they are no longer adorned with the Taco Bell name. The tacos, however, have long gone, but their memory will live on forever.

Lunchables are known for their stacks of cheese and crackers or even their pepperoni pizza kits. You can get the snack pack sizes or the ones that come with dessert and a drink, but for some, the excitement of opening a Lunchable is still unbeatable. In the late '90s, Lunchables introduced a new twist on their pizza that "makes fun of lunch."

According to the 1998 advertisement, each pack of Lunchables Pizza Dunks came with soft breadsticks to be dipped in the cheese and marinara sauces. On the side, the lunch came with a Nestlé Crunch bar and a Capri Sun. It's not entirely clear when this Lunchable variation was discontinued, but it seems like it happened around 2005. Though Lunchables still exists and has plenty of fun snack and meal options to choose from, the Pizza Dunks will have to live on in memories alone.