10 beloved childhood snacks that have vanished from store shelves
Jay Leno, in 1989, in a Doritos commercial, pitching a new flavor as “something different.” It was called Salsa Rio. It lasted a short while, then it was gone. People still ask about it.
Snacks vanish for boring reasons. A product line gets streamlined. A brand changes hands. Sales dip. A few never quite leave, though. They hang on through petitions, fan websites, and the occasional limited run.
Ten of them below. We checked each against 2026 reports, and we note when one briefly came back.
Planters PB Crisps, and a website that won’t quit
Peanut-shaped cookies, crunchy shell, creamy peanut butter inside. Planters launched them in 1992. A fan website, pbcrisps.com, started campaigning for their return in 2022, and in 2023 a small company put out a lookalike called 90s Crisps. Planters itself? No official word on a full return.
Keebler Magic Middles
Shortbread with a fudge or peanut butter center, and a mystery attached. Nobody at Keebler ever said why they disappeared. The rumor is that the company reportedly wanted the equipment for something else. A Change.org petition was still collecting supporters in 2026.
The Choco Taco
A waffle-cone taco, vanilla ice cream inside, chocolate shell outside. Klondike pulled it in 2022 as part of a streamlining plan. During the pandemic, demand for other Klondike products surged, per WatchMojo. The reaction online was outsized. No revival has been announced.
Squeezit: take your pick
Squeezable fruit drinks, with color-changing versions, mystery flavors, and a Life Savers tie-in. The Daily Meal says they were discontinued in 2001. WatchMojo says they kept turning up in the early 2000s and haven’t been seen since 2012.
Jell-O Pudding Pops
Chocolate-and-vanilla swirls on a stick. One of the most-missed desserts of the ’80s and ’90s. Corporate changes discontinued them, and fans now make their own with instant pudding. As of 2026, nobody’s planning a relaunch.
Planters Cheez Balls: back, then gone again
Blue canister, introduced in 1981. Kraft discontinued them in 2006 as it trimmed its snack lineup. After years of petitions, Planters brought them back for a limited run in 2018. Then they went away again. Planters now says they’re no longer available.
Hershey Swoops
Chocolate shaped like Pringles. Thin slices, in flavors like Almond Joy and York Peppermint Patty. They fizzled because shoppers weren’t sold on the little chocolate and the big packaging, according to Mashed. Fans are still campaigning.
Keebler Pizzarias
Pizza-flavored snack chips, and Keebler’s most successful savory debut. Then Keebler was sold and broken up, and by the late 1990s, they were gone, according to History Oasis.
Hostess Chocodiles
Chocolate-covered Twinkies. Made from the 1980s through the late ’90s, they became cult items as rare West Coast exclusives.
Doritos Salsa Rio
Smoky, savory, tomato-heavy. Leno’s 1989 pitch didn’t save it, and it was discontinued after a short run. It still gets named as one of the most-missed Doritos flavors.
The bottom line
Planters has two snacks on this list. Cheez Balls got a 2018 limited run, and PB Crisps got a fan website.
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