Buzz
It’s an undeniable truth that every beloved food product will eventually vanish from shelves. Decades later, some loyal fans still harbor resentment toward the manufacturers. Meanwhile, others reflect on how our supposedly sophisticated tastes ever embraced these oddities. We question how we were convinced these trends were both tasty and healthy. Below are ten discontinued food items that now seem downright peculiar.
10. Weiner Wrap
The Weiner Wrap was designed to simplify cooking by baking hot dogs and buns together. Pillsbury’s canned dough, featuring six flat sheets, wrapped snugly around each hot dog. After baking on a cookie sheet for twenty minutes, you’d have a juicy hot dog encased in a warm, flavorful bun. Available in plain, cheese, and onion varieties, it quickly became a household staple.
This product became a hit nationwide, especially among teenagers who could prepare it independently. Many in their fifties fondly recall a time when parents handed over kitchen duties, allowing kids to feast on Weiner Wraps nightly while they pursued hobbies or socialized with friends.
If a classmate brought a cold Weiner Wrap to the cafeteria, it was either a sign of great fortune or sheer neglect. Like many processed foods from the seventies, Weiner Wrap faded into obscurity as the fitness craze shifted focus toward healthier eating habits.
9. WOW
Frito Lay introduced WOW Potato Chips and WOW Doritos between 1998 and 2002. These snacks featured Olestra, a calorie-free fat substitute designed to reduce or eliminate fat content entirely.
WOW products saw massive success in their debut year, generating $400 million in sales. However, enthusiasm waned as consumers reported severe side effects, including abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and anal leakage.
These unpleasant side effects undoubtedly tarnished the product’s image. Imagine thanking a host for a great party, only to add that you and your partner suffered from diarrhea and ruined underwear—hardly a glowing endorsement for the snacks.
8. Pizza Spins
Pizza Spins, a snack by General Mills, debuted in 1968 and was discontinued by 1975. In the 1960s, surveys revealed pizza as America’s most desired flavor, sparking a competition to create the ultimate crispy, pizza-flavored snack.
General Mills proudly advertised on each Pizza Spins box: 'All the authentic pizza flavor in a crunchy, bite-sized snack.' However, they omitted a crucial warning: Pizza Spins tasted like a heartburn-inducing mix of sawdust and week-old spaghetti sauce.
Even the robust stomach of a ten-year-old couldn’t handle the fiery aftermath of eating a few of these imitation pizza wheels.
7. Freshen Up Gum
Freshen Up Gum, famously known as 'The Gum That Goes Squirt,' launched in 1975 and was discontinued in 2019. It came in cinnamon, spearmint, peppermint, and bubblegum flavors. Its unique feature was a creamy gel center that supposedly 'squirted your breath with refreshment' when chewed.
If your first encounter with Freshen Up Gum involved a piece stored in someone’s pocket or a hot car, you were in for a revolting experience. The gum would release a warm, oddly flavored gel that forced you to decide whether to gag, swallow, or endure the bizarre sensation for an uncomfortable twenty seconds.
6. Jell-O 123
Jell-O 123 was marketed as a convenient dessert with 'two toppings.' TV ads highlighted its mesmerizing transformation as it set in individual serving dishes after preparation.
The fruit-flavored powder was blended with hot water, creating a cloudy mixture that eventually separated into three distinct layers. The top layer was gelatinous, the middle resembled creamy custard, and the bottom was a spongy, foam-like texture.
A single box yielded just four small servings, each barely enough to fill a custard cup. Consuming a larger quantity of this peculiar lab-created concoction might have led to instant nausea. The vibrant colors of Jell-O 123 eerily resembled the aftermath of a child’s stomach after a day of overindulging in cotton candy at the fair.
5. Oscar Mayer Sandwich Spread
Oscar Mayer Sandwich Spread came in a plastic tube, typically found in the hot dog aisle. It consisted of a paste made from chicken, pork, and beef by-products, mixed with seasonings and pickle relish.
For those who disliked assembling bologna sandwiches or found it too tedious, Oscar Mayer Sandwich Spread was a convenient solution.
Simply cut open the tube, spread the bologna paste onto bread, and in under 30 seconds, you had a pungent sandwich that seemed pre-chewed. For many, cooking a hot dog or slicing bologna was too much effort. Sadly, this product was discontinued a few years ago, much to the dismay of its fans.
4. Easy Squirt Ketchup
Heinz launched Easy Squirt Ketchup in 2000, a vibrant line of ketchup aimed at kids. The first color, 'Blastin’ Green,' debuted alongside the movie 'Shrek.' Over time, Funky Purple, Passion Pink, Awesome Orange, Stellar Blue, and Totally Teal were introduced, selling over 25 million bottles.
The downfall of Easy Squirt Ketchup came when consumers learned how red tomato ketchup was transformed into bright, unnatural colors. The process involved stripping the red color and adding chemical dyes, which altered the flavor and required additional tangy ingredients.
Legally, the product could no longer be labeled as traditional tomato ketchup. Parents were already uneasy watching their kids squirt the colorful condiment on everything. The inability to call it tomato ketchup was the final blow, even for those who ignored nutritional concerns.
3. Sugar-Free Gummy Bears
Can you distinguish the taste of a regular gummy bear from a sugar-free one? Not until minutes or hours after eating a handful of Haribo’s sugar-free gummy bears, when the effects of Maltitol, a sugar alcohol substitute, kick in.
Maltitol acts as a potent laxative for nearly everyone who unknowingly consumes it. Who would have guessed that enjoying a pack of adorable gummy bears could result in endless trips to the bathroom with severe diarrhea?
Haribo quickly removed these troublesome gummy bears from their product line. However, other brands have been slower to follow suit.
2. Figurines
Figurines were crunchy, wafer-like bars marketed to women’s diet concerns. Launched in 1974, they came in various flavors and were loaded with fat and sugar. The catch? They were advertised as being 'full of added vitamins,' playing on dietary insecurities.
Though not explicitly stated, these 300-calorie bars were intended as meal replacements. Alongside cigarettes, Tab diet soda, and caffeine pills—popular in the 1970s—teenage girls emulated their mothers by skipping real meals and consuming Figurines to chase an unattainable beauty ideal.
The Figurines diet bar trend eventually faded, becoming just another weight-loss fad in the arsenal of American women. As its consumers aged, the product lost popularity and was discontinued in the early 1980s.
1. Space Food Sticks
Pillsbury launched Space Food Sticks in 1970 during the peak of NASA’s popularity. The public was captivated by astronaut survival, leading to a surge in space-themed toys, clothing, books, and marketing gimmicks, primarily targeting children.
Space Food Sticks appealed to the whole family. With no clear idea of what astronaut food should look or taste like, the public was easily swayed by this innovative marketing. TV ads had an official tone, as if NASA itself endorsed the product.
After all, observe how robust and courageous these men appeared.
For years, both kids and adults persuaded themselves that the chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter-flavored, foil-wrapped sticks were actually enjoyable. The public was thoroughly convinced that Space Food Sticks were a revitalizing, superior snack, despite their resemblance to something a dog might leave in the yard.
Eventually, the shared illusion faded, and Space Food Sticks were launched into the realm of discontinued food products in the early 1980s.
