27 Discontinued Snack Foods From The '90s You Totally Forgot About

The 1990s were a glorious time to be a kid, or even to be a kid at heart. That was especially true when it came to snacks, where new ones seemed to be conjured up by Keebler, Nabisco, General Mills, and the like, and hit grocery stores every week. The options were endless for parents looking to fill out their child's brown bag lunch with a bit of sweetness or saltiness, or to have something to munch on after school.

A lot of these snacks didn't last all that long on shelves, while others proved to have a bit of staying power before eventually being discontinued. Decades later, many of those fleeting snacks still have devoted fans screaming for their return, but others have simply been forgotten. Let's rev up the time machine and return to the simple era of the '90s, where "Saved By The Bell," MC Hammer, and denim overalls were everywhere, and so were these forgotten snacks that we should all try to remember.

In 1995, Nabisco introduced a new, light and crunchy snack to the market. Air Crisps were advertised as delicate snacks with air pockets, and came in the shapes and flavors of Ritz, Cheese Nips, Wheat Thins, potato, and tortilla nacho.

The last time they graced shelves was around 2003. Their disappearance had some customers so dismayed that they pleaded for help in their local newspaper to see if others could help them find them.

"C.C. Rider" had long been a popular blues song, and in 1993, Keebler played off that name for a rice-based salty snack called CC Ricers. The "CC" here stood for "crispy crunchy."

Ads with the Keebler elves played up a rocking attitude of these chips, which came in zesty cheddar, sour cream and French onion, and original seasoned flavors. Apparently eaters didn't think these snacks rocked all that much and they rode off into the sunset rather soon after their release.

Long before Tostitos made tortilla chips with hints of flavor, Keebler gave it a try in 1993 with its line of Chacho's. These tortilla chips were made with flour, and came seasoned in three different flavors — Cheesy Quesadilla, Restaurant Style Original, and Cinnamon and Sugar, which were reminiscent of the delectable Mexican fritters buñuelos.

Promotional items like a Keebler Fiesta Booklet, featuring Chacho's recipes, and video game CD-ROMs were offered to entice buyers. Apparently, that wasn't enough, as the company said adios to them sometime around 1996.

Disney chipmunk characters Chip 'N Dale made a modern comeback with its afterschool cartoon "Rescue Rangers," which debuted in 1989. To help promote the show two years later, Gold Bond-Good Humor Ice Cream released a box of fudge pops, which joined other frozen Disney characters on shelves.

These fudge pops featured the brothers' adorable faces on a stick. Chip's nose is black, and Dale's is famously red, and these bars honored that with a rounded creamy fudge and candy nose, respectively. The smirks on these happy faces were wiped from stores sometime after 1992.

In 1993, Nabisco released "crackers with crunch," with a name that was perhaps a laughing matter — Crackups. This was Nabisco's first snack cracker aimed at the teen market, where print ads implored them to say, "Hey mom...don't forget the Crackups."

These triangle-shaped snacks came in two flavors — cheddar and salsa. Pop culture writer Dinosaur Dracula remembered them as "Better Cheddars with attitude." The snack partnered to promote the "Saturday Night Live" spin-off film "Coneheads," and both turned out to have unmemorable short shelf lives.

There once was a Canadian folk group called Dizzy Grizzly, but it's unclear if their name was inspiration for an offshoot of Teddy Grahams called Dizzy Grizzlies that debuted in 1995. These graham crackers by Nabisco came in various shapes of bears doing fun activities.

What differentiated these from standard Teddy Grahams, beyond a cool attitude, was that its flat backside was coated in either chocolate or vanilla frosting, and then topped with sprinkles. While these hung around for only about five years, the memory of them is still strong for some. 

Worried about falling further behind leader Kellogg's, in 1993, General Mills made a bold move by thinking outside of the cereal box. With a mammoth $34 million marketing campaign, it really pushed to make Fingos the go-to cereal as a snack, which didn't require milk, a bowl, nor a spoon.

The key selling point of Fingos was their portability, as General Mills sought to make this cereal an all-day option. The large, hexagonal multigrain cereal came in flavors of cinnamon or honey toasted oat. Its boxes promised buyers that "you'll love getting your fingers on Fingos," but apparently that wasn't the case as this product went silent a year or so later.

In 1993, Betty Crocker hoped buyers would see the "fun" in a new snack emphasizing that word in its name. Shaped like meshed pillows, FundaMiddles had a honey graham cracker shell that housed a flavorful filling. The initial three flavors were chocolate, peanut butter, and vanilla creme, the latter of which lived within a chocolate graham shell.

A "mother" in the TV ad stated, "Whoever came up with FundaMiddles, I'd like to kiss him." In reality, eaters found them artificial tasting. One told The Wichita Eagle, "The Betty Crocker who wrote my cookbook does not know about these."

While the "fun" ran out around 1994, the name was resurrected in 2011 as Fun da-middles, for a new line of cream-filled cupcakes. Consumers had the option to make these Fun da-middles from scratch or buy them premade.

In 1991, Hostess attempted to make the mostess out of Grizzly Chomps, 97% fat-free cupcakes with sprinkles. Spokesbear Grizzly B noted in ads and the box a request, "I start 'em — you finish 'em." That implied the bear actually took a bite out of each cupcake, and the remaining, bitten piece was for the consumer to chomp on.

Some eaters couldn't get past the novelty's premise, with one telling Deseret News, "You know, psychologically it bothered me to eat something that has a bite already taken out." While these treats disappeared after only a couple of years, they did earn a place in the traveling Museum of Failure.

Fritos launched a cylindrical corn chip in 2001, but over a decade earlier, Keebler tried to make a statement with its own take called Hooplas! In print ads, this bite-sized snack's moniker was defined as the elfin word for "munchable." Taste testers seemed to agree, as one told Deseret News in 2001, "I got a little taste of the crumbs left in the bottom of the bag! That tells you how good they are."

The hoopla on these snacks died down around 1993. As of 2024, Keebler has yet to make a new corn chip snack.

In 1992, General Mills announced a twin bill of snacks with unforgettable names: Dunkaroos and IncrediBites. The latter were released on the Betty Crocker label, and were hexagonal mini-granola sandwiches filled with peanut butter, vanilla, or chocolate.

IncrediBites were advertised as being "incredibly, edibly good," but weren't apparently good enough to last much beyond 1994. The name IncrediBites got a new lease on life in 2010 when Purina started using it for a brand of its Beneful dog food.

Nabisco wanted to take a bite out of the burgeoning pretzel business, and in 1991 took a more rounded approach by introducing Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips. In just a year, this baked treat that came in original, sesame, and lightly salted flavors, became the best-selling pretzel on the market.

In 1992, Nabisco expanded upon this snack and introduced a line of baked potato chips called Tater Crisps, followed by Tortilla Crisps. Sometime in or after 1997, the world said goodbye to Mr. Phipps and all his crisps and chips.

As 1991 was just getting started, Keebler dropped Munch 'ems, advertised as "crispy little crackers that crunch like chips." These grooved, hexagonal, baked crackers came in the initial flavor options of original, cheddar, and sour cream, and later nacho and ranch. For many eaters, it was love at first bite for these crackers that passed themselves off as chips.

Munch'ems hung around until at least 2006. Some eaters have since found solace in boxes of Cheez-It Grooves crackers, which have a similar texture.

Following the healthier footsteps of its Harvest Crisps and Garden Crisps crackers, Nabisco was hoping to make it three times a charm when it introduced Orchard Chips in 1993. These sweet and fruity crackers were low in fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and came in banana walnut and apple cinnamon flavors.

Syndicated food critic Carolyn Wyman noted, via The Commercial Appeal, "They are a whole new idea of what a snack cracker can be." She added, they were basically "a cross between a cookie and a cracker, sort of a modern-day graham." Apparently consumers didn't bite, as Orchard Crisps were no longer advertised a year after they first hit shelves.

Planters gave consumers a lot to digest when it unleashed a slew of snacks in stand-up bags in 1993. On of the memorable snacks is P.B. Crisps, which was a graham cookie shaped like a peanut an filled with peanut butter crème. Offshoots that followed included Chocolate Crisps and PB & J Crisps, which added a strawberry jelly filling to the snack.

P.B. Crisps faded from view around 2000, but the call for their return has remained rather vocal ever since. Planters finally addressed the public as to why they won't be coming back. In a 2017 Tweet, the company said "unfortunately, there was not enough consumer demand for us to continue producing it."

Pecan sandies have long been a winning cookie recipe, and in 1992, Nabisco came out with its own version called Pecan Supremes. The print ads for these shortbread cookies boasted, "More pecans make the difference."

Taste testers didn't see Pecan Supremes as worthy competition to Keebler's popular pecan cookie. One told the Deseret News, "this 'new kid' on the block wasn't quite as good as our regular product — didn't seem as fine textured or as sweet." Nabisco's pecan cookie was gone sometime in or after 1994. 

In 1999, Philadelphia Cream Cheese became a dream snackable dessert line by Kraft called Philadelphia Snack Bars. Popular cheesecake flavors like classic, strawberry, and chocolate chip were joined by novel ones like white chocolate raspberry and chocolate decadence. Philadelphia Snack Bars were drizzled with icing and perched atop a base of graham cracker crust. These refrigerated bars came six to a box and were marketed as "a little taste of heaven."

At 200 calories and 13 grams of fat per bar, some didn't find this heavenly treat and indulgence worth it. The creamy dream for the Philadelphia Snack Bars came to an end around 2006.

In 1993, Betty Crocker used her magical red spoon to whip up a new snack under the banner of Pop Secret popcorn called Pop Chips. Pop Chips leaned on popcorn and other grains to create a crunchy snack that contained 60% less fat than standard potato chips. The flavors included original, butter, and sour cream & onion, and eaters found them to have a taste similar to Bugles.

Pop Chips hung around until at least 2005. However, in 2007, the name resurfaced as a brand new product called Popchips, where potatoes were pressurized into another snack healthier than potato chips.

Most students aren't fans of pop quizzes, but in 1991, Pop Secret hoped its Pop Qwiz would be a popular hit. The popcorn came in six different neon colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. However, the color of popcorn each bag actually contained was a surprise that was only revealed in the microwave.

Once the guessing game ended, the tasting began. A reviewer for The Impulsive Buy didn't remember it all too kindly, writing in 2017, "The popcorn tasted like flavorless Styrofoam and the bag held little more than a handful of popcorn." By 1994, the product was already branded a flawed idea the world of snacks should not soon repeat.

Oatmeal raisin cookies can be an acquired taste, but in 1993, Keebler was ready to make a lot of noise with a new line of them called Raisin Ruckus. These oatmeal cookies were promoted as "The best thing to happen to raisins since the wrinkle," and came in two varieties — Plump Raisins and Chocolate Covered Raisins.

Early returns netted positive reviews, and there were even comparisons to Raisinets. However, the noise died down rather quickly on Raisin Ruckus as they went silent sometime after 1994.

Fitness guru Richard Simmons promoted aerobics and good health in the 1980s straight out of his own Slimmons Studio. In 1994, he used his name and face to sell branded fat-free cookies at Walmart, and three years later, borrowed his studio's name for a line of snacks. The Slimmons line included familiar favorites like cheese curls and balls, toffee popcorn, candy bars, and pretzels, but with far last fat content.

Slimmons didn't last long in stores. Perhaps eaters took Simmons up on his advice when he told The Daily Herald in 1997 that if people didn't like his cheese balls, "you can make earrings out of them."

The year 1991 was a banner one for the launch of Betty Crocker snacks. While Gushers is still going strong today and even playing into the nostalgia of those times, equally memorable were the Soda-Licious Soda Pop Fruit Snacks. These snacks were shaped like soda bottles, and to mimic the taste of the bubbly liquids, had a special coating that released a tasty tingle.

Soda-Licious came in two varieties — a fruity set that included red punch, lemon-lime, and grape; and a soda set with more traditional flavors like root beer, orange, and cherry cola. The fruit bottles ran dry by 1995, and soda bottles followed suit three years later.

Kids aren't often encouraged to play with their food, but Betty Crocker definitely intended that to be the case with its String Thing snack it introduced in 1994. The initial flavors were cherry, strawberry, and berry 'n blue. The strings were curled up like licorice wheels, and later versions came in pre-made shapes like space shuttles, a genie lamp, and bicycles.

A print ad suggested for eaters to unravel the strings and to "tie it, twist it, braid it, swing it, wrap it, pull it, swirl it, loop it, eat it, and love it." The fun with this snack came to an end sometime after 2000.

In 1988, General Mills unleashed Shark Bites fruit snacks under its Fruit Corners label. Two years later, it dipped back into the ocean for inspiration for another fruit snack. However, this time around, the focus was more on fun, catching a wave with Surf's Up!. They came in two varieties — Tutti Frutti and Sun Splash Flavors — and featured vibrantly-colored snacks that were shaped like surfers, palm trees, boomboxes, sunglasses, and seahorses.

Surf's Up! boxes promised added bonus fun within, like rad wristbands and tropical twirl fruit pieces. Apparently, those gimmicks weren't enough to keep these snacks from wiping out after only a year in stores.

The Keebler elves were hoping to hit "Sweet Spots" of consumers with a new product launched in 1992 by that name. These were bite-sized shortbread cookies topped with a drop of chocolate. Ads promised that these cookies had a "Big, BIG, chocolaty taste.

Taste testers for Deseret News weren't really wowed by these new cookies. One summed it up, "The Keebler Elf in charge of cookie design came up with a cute idea but forget [sic] to pass it along to the flavor department." Sweet Spots endured for at least four years, before it was no longer spotted for sale.

Hostess is famous for its fruit pies, but lesser known is its pudding pies that first hit stores in 1986. Five years later, in the first licensing deal in company history, Hostess teamed up with the popular cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to release a pie in their good name. The pie had a green coated shell to resemble the turtles', and was filled with "vanilla puddin' power!"

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been able to remain relevant decades on, but its pudding pie disappeared soon after its release. Some devoted fans still hope it's a discontinued Hostess snack that will return one day.

In 1991, Nabisco was hoping to make its new crackers called Zings the latest thing in snackdom. These snack chips came in the shape of a Z, and words with that letter, like "zesty," "zip," and of course "zing," were employed to help sell them. These snacks were baked and low in cholesterol, and came in regular, cheddar, and ranch flavors.

A taste tester of the Deseret News called Zings! "THE cracker of the century!" in 1992. Sadly, they never made it into the next century, as they lost their zip sometime after 1993.