15 discontinued snacks every '90s kid remembers

General Mills turned an otherwise ordinary bowl of oatmeal into an activity by including packets of sweet fruit or chocolate topping that kids could squeeze into their own designs. The colorful breakfast product became a memorable part of the cereal aisle during the late 1980s and 1990s, although its exact discontinuation date is difficult to establish.

Life Savers created a spin-off based on the center of its famous ring-shaped candies. Introduced in 1990, the small, round sweets were packaged in plastic tubes with flip-top lids. In 1991, the company voluntarily recalled the original packaging after reports that several teenagers had swallowed or gagged on the detachable plastic caps, prompting concerns about a choking hazard.

Shaped like oversized peanuts, these crunchy graham-cookie shells hid creamy peanut butter inside, with chocolate and PB&J varieties joining the lineup. The snack lasted only about three years, and fans still ask about it often enough that Planters addresses its absence on its FAQ page.

Changing the color of your mouth was essentially the point of Tongue Splashers. Concord Confections introduced the brightly colored gumballs in 1993, selling them in miniature paint cans, and they stained tongues and teeth in equally vivid shades before eventually disappearing from shelves.

Few drinks looked more unmistakably '90s than Orbitz, a fruit-flavored beverage filled with colorful edible gelatin balls suspended throughout the bottle. Its lava-lamp appearance generated plenty of attention, but the unusual drink lasted only a few years before production ended.

Eating this fruit snack required a little work first. General Mills arranged long strands of chewy, fruit-flavored candy into shapes on a paperboard backing, so kids could peel, unravel, twist, and play with their snack before eating it. The product stayed on shelves until 2005.

Pizza became a chip with Pizzarias, triangular crisps made with real pizza dough and covered in cheesy, herby seasoning. The snack offered an unusual alternative to traditional potato chips before disappearing from store shelves around the turn of the millennium.

By the '90s, drinking a Squeezit meant grabbing a squeezable plastic bottle, each flavor with its own character face, and squeezing out brightly colored fruit punch. Later versions even let kids change the drink's color, but slumping sales brought its long run to an end in 2001.

Years before energy drinks became a convenience-store staple, Pepsi introduced Josta, a caffeinated soda made with guarana and one of the first energy drinks from a major beverage company. The unusual formula set it apart from traditional soft drinks, but the product was discontinued before the decade ended.

What began as a "Ghostbusters" tie-in outlived the promotion and became a '90s favorite in its own right. The citrus-flavored green drink remained on shelves for more than a decade before the Ecto Cooler name disappeared in 2001, though limited revivals have occasionally brought it back.

Instead of committing to an entire Butterfinger bar, kids could eat its familiar crispy peanut-butter center in small chocolate-covered balls. Launched in 1992 and heavily promoted with "The Simpsons," BB's lasted until 2006, when Butterfinger dropped them due to low sales.

Clear soda became one of the decade's strangest beverage trends when Pepsi removed the familiar caramel coloring from its cola. Crystal Pepsi generated enormous attention when it rolled out in 1992, but disappointing sales ended its original U.S. run by 1994.

Fruitopia arrived with brightly colored fruit drinks and marketing suited to the alternative-minded aesthetic of the 1990s. Coca-Cola introduced the brand in 1994, but much of its original lineup disappeared from the U.S. market by the early 2000s. Fruitopia did not vanish everywhere, however, and the brand remains available in Canada.

A hollow chocolate sphere with a Disney figurine hidden inside made Magic Balls part candy and part toy. Nestlé stopped selling them just months after their 1997 debut amid concerns that the small plastic toys posed a choking hazard. The concept returned in 2000 as the Wonder Ball, with candy in place of toys.

Mars combined peanut butter, a crunchy whole-grain cookie, and milk chocolate in PB Max, producing a candy bar that developed a loyal following despite its brief existence. It disappeared in 1994, and the exact business reasoning behind the decision has remained a subject of speculation among fans.

More From Stacker

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