12 Quirky ’90s Food Trends That Didn’t Last
Nostalgia meets weird science in these forgotten food fads of the ’90s.
- Alyana Aguja
- 4 min read
The 1990s were a playground for food experimentation, where color, shape, and gimmick often mattered more than flavor or nutrition. Kids were the target audience, and marketing played into fantasy, fun, and the rise of convenience eating. While many of these products disappeared due to health concerns, shifting tastes, or just plain oddness, they live on in the memories of anyone who ever drank a lava-lamp soda or painted a sandwich with green ketchup.
1. Orbitz Drinks
Image from Wikipedia
Remember drinking juice with floating gelatin balls? Orbitz looked more like a lava lamp than a beverage, with neon-colored liquid and weird suspended blobs that defied gravity. The taste was secondary to the novelty — but the novelty faded fast, and so did Orbitz.
2. EZ Squirt Colored Ketchup
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Heinz thought kids would love ketchup in purple, green, and even blue — and for a brief moment, they did. Parents, on the other hand, weren’t thrilled about staining everything from fries to shirts in alien hues. The idea flopped as quickly as it caught on, and regular red ketchup reclaimed its throne.
3. Crystal Pepsi
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It was marketed as the “clear cola for a new generation,” but Crystal Pepsi’s lack of color didn’t make up for its odd taste. People were confused — was it supposed to be soda or water with a sugar complex? It fizzled out, only to return years later in limited nostalgic runs.
4. Doritos 3D
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These puffed, tube-like snacks were the 3D glasses of the chip world — more style than substance. They looked cool in commercials but never packed the same crunch or flavor as classic Doritos. While they were discontinued in the early 2000s, their brief return decades later reminded us why they vanished.
5. Lunchables Fun Snacks
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Lunchables wasn’t content with just mini pizzas and cold-cut stacks; they tried dessert kits with gooey frosting, sprinkles, and cookies kids assembled themselves. It was messy and often more sugar than lunch. Parents grew weary of the hyper-processed chaos, and many of these “fun” snack versions quietly disappeared.
6. Bubble Jug Gum
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It came in a little plastic jug, and it looked like powder — but one pinch on the tongue, and it transformed into gum. Kids loved the magic, though adults questioned why anyone would want powdery chewing gum. Eventually, practicality won out, and Bubble Jug was shelved.
7. Jell-O Pudding Pops
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Popular in the ’80s and hanging on into the early ’90s, these creamy frozen treats were once a freezer staple. They had a cult following thanks to their texture and the Bill Cosby commercials, but their discontinuation left many puzzled. Attempts to revive them never quite recaptured the original magic.
8. Pop Qwiz Popcorn
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Popcorn that turned bright colors when popped — blue, green, even pink. It sounded fun until you realized watching a movie with neon fingertips wasn’t ideal. The gimmick wore thin, and Pop Qwiz quietly vanished from shelves.
9. PB Max
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Imagine a peanut butter cookie covered in milk chocolate and topped with oats — PB Max was as indulgent as it sounds. Despite decent sales, Mars pulled the plug because, reportedly, some executives just didn’t like peanut butter. Its disappearance still baffles diehard fans.
10. Squeezit Bottled Juice
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These plastic bottle juices with twist-top faces were lunchbox royalty for a few years. Kids loved squeezing the bottle until it caved in, while adults debated what on earth the flavors actually were. Despite the bright packaging and zany commercials, Squeezit ran dry by the early 2000s.
11. Oatmeal Swirlers
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Instant oatmeal with a packet of fruity syrup you could swirl into smiley faces — breakfast and art class rolled into one. It felt revolutionary for five-year-olds tired of plain mush. However, the swirls turned out to be mostly sugar, and parents eventually steered toward healthier options.
12. Wow! Chips (with Olestra)
Mustafa Bashari from Unsplash
They promised fat-free snacking with all the flavor but came with a horrifying side effect: “anal leakage.” The chips were actually tasty, but Olestra became infamous almost overnight. The backlash was intense, and Wow! Chips became a cautionary tale in food innovation.