Oh, the days when it was socially acceptable to eat pure sugar in ice cold milk for breakfast. For those of us who grew up on breakfast cereal, the nostalgia runs deep for our old favorites, especially those we’ll likely never taste again.
24/7 Tempo compiled a list of breakfast cereals that are no longer available. While it is by no means a complete archive of discontinued flavors, it includes many cereals that were released in conjunction with a popular movie or cartoon and subsequently disappeared when the hype died down. Also revealed are cereals that have since been reformulated to appeal to changing tastes or, surprisingly, to address parental concerns over the color of their children’s stool.
It is not always clear when some of the cereals were discontinued. We contacted customer relations representatives to confirm each cereal was in fact removed from the market. For cereals without an exact end year, we listed the decade.
Major food companies employ virtual armies of chefs, food scientists, and marketing gurus dedicated to rolling out new products. They please us with their vivid flavors and attractive textures — and when they eventually disappear from the shelves, as many of them do, we end up missing them — here are 40 popular discontinued snack foods we really miss.
Vanilly Crunch
> Years available: 1971 – early 1980s
> Manufacturer: Quaker
> Description: Birthday cake flavored Cap’n Crunch balls
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Pink Panther Flakes
> Years available: 1972 – 1974
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Neon pink frosted corn cereal
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Fruit Brute
> Years available: 1975 – 1983
> Manufacturer: General Mills
> Description: Fruit flavored cereal pieces with lime flavored marshmallows
Moonstones
> Years available: 1976 – 1977
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Fruit flavored, space-shaped cereal of stars, half-moons and planets
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Donkey Kong Crunch
> Years available: 1982 – 1984
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Barrel-shaped crunchy corn cereal
Strawberry Honeycomb
> Years available: 1983 – 2002
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Strawberry flavored, honeycomb-shaped cereal *Temporarily made a come-back in 2015
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Pac-Man
> Years available: 1983 – 1988
> Manufacturer: General Mills
> Description: Corn cereal with Pac Man-shaped marshmallows
Smurf Berry Crunch
> Years available: 1983 – 1988
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Red and blue corn puffs in berry flavor
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C3POs
> Years available: 1984 – 1986
> Manufacturer: Kellogg’s
> Description: Infinity-shaped, honey sweetened oat, wheat and corn cereal, that basically tasted like Lucky Charms but without the marshmallows
Ghostbusters Cereal
> Years available: 1985 – 1990
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Oat cereal shaped like the Ghostbusters logo with ghost-shaped marshmallows in a glow-in-the-dark box
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Nerds
> Years available: 1985 – late 1980s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Featured two separate tangy flavors divided in one box, like the candies
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Rainbow Brite Cereal
> Years available: 1985 – 1990
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Fruit flavored, rainbow-shaped cereal pieces in multiple colors
Spiderman Cereal
> Years available: 1985 – 1990s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Spiderweb-shaped cereal with marshmallows
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Yummy Mummy
> Years available: 1987 – 1993
> Manufacturer: General Mills
> Description: Fruit flavored cereal with vanilla flavored marshmallows
Smurf Magic Berries
> Years available: 1987 – early 1990s
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Fruit flavored multigrain cereal with marshmallow stars
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Morning Funnies
> Years available: 1988 – 1989
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Fruit flavored cereal shaped like goofy faces, in a box covered in comics
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Dunkin’ Donuts Cereal
> Years available: 1988 – late 1980s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Shaped like donuts, came in glazed donut and chocolate flavors
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal
> Years available: 1989 – 1995
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Net-shaped cereal with crunchy marshmallows that left your milk green
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Batman Cereal
> Years available: 1989 – 1990
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Bat-shaped corn cereal
Breakfast with Barbie
> Years available: 1989 – early 1990s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Multigrain fruit flavored cereal in the shape of hearts, bows, cars, stars, and the letter B
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Bill & Ted’s Excellent Cereal
> Years available: 1990 – 1991
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Toasted oat squares with music note-shaped marshmallows
Cinnamon Mini-Buns
> Years available: 1991 – 1993
> Manufacturer: Kellogg’s
> Description: Corn and oat cereal shaped and flavored like swirled cinnamon bun
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The Addams Family Cereal
> Years available: 1991 – early 1990s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Spooky-shaped cereal with a memorable lack of flavor
WWF Superstars
> Years available: 1991 – early 1990s
> Manufacturer: Ralston
> Description: Vanilla flavored, star-shaped cereal
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Reptar Crunch
> Years available: 1999 – 1999
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Purple rice crisps with green Reptar-shaped pieces
Homer’s Cinnamon Donut Cereal
> Years available: 2001 – 2002
> Manufacturer: Kellogg’s
> Description: Donut-shaped cinnamon flavored cereal
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Bart’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch
> Years available: 2001 – 2002
> Manufacturer: Kellogg’s
> Description: Peanut butter chocolate flavored orbs
Monopoly Cereal
> Years available: 2003 – mid-2000s
> Manufacturer: General Mills
> Description: Cinnamon flavored cereal with marshmallow houses, hotels, and deeds
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FiberPlus Berry Yogurt Crunch
> Years available: 2010 – 2013
> Manufacturer: Kellogg’s
> Description: Wheat and rice flakes with berry yogurt flavored clusters
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Cupcake Pebbles
> Years available: 2010 – 2011
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Cake batter flavored rice cereal
Sesame Street C is for Cereal
> Years available: 2011 – 2014
> Manufacturer: Post
> Description: Apple flavored oat and corn cereal pieces shaped like Xs and Os, made for toddlers
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