Ten Defunct Food & Drink Products I Miss

Would you be surprised if I told you in advance that each and every product on this list was crawling with sugar? Would you expect anything less from me?

Some of these have nostalgic value going back to my youth. Others are from more recent times. But I loved them all.

1. Häagen–Dazs Five: Lemon: I absolutely love lemon flavored ice cream, but it’s not always easy to find in stores. At one point, Häagen-Dazs had a series out that was simply called, ‘Five.’ Each flavor in the series contained only five ingredients. The lemon was so pure tasting, with just the right blend of sweet and tart, that I bought it like it would be discontinued at any time. Unfortunately for me, “any time” came much too soon.

2. Trader Joe’s Banana-Nut Clusters Cereal: Those of you who are fortunate enough to have a Trader Joe’s in your neck of the woods probably have your own favorite T.J.’s favorites. For a couple years, mine was their Banana-Nut Clusters cereal. They’ve kept all of the other clusters cereal flavors that I am familiar with, but this one fell by the wayside at some point, leaving me to find a new breakfast routine.

3. Goobers in the White Box: I know Goobers are still very much available at supermarkets and movie theaters. But I swear they went downhill when Nestle bought out the company that used to make them and changed the packaging. I’m sure some of you remember when they were sold in little boxes that looked like this.

4. Ice Cream Cake Roll: This was a product my grandmother used to keep in stock for my visits when I was very young. It may be available in some parts of the country in various flavors from different brands. But I can’t recall the last time I saw the basic one I used to eat – with chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream – in my area.

5. Hires Root Beer: Hires was a hugely popular soda and a big favorite of mine for many years. I’m not sure why it went kaput, but I miss having it in a frosty mug.

6. McDonald’s fried apple pie: I know I’ve got a lot of company on this one. I still remember when they cost a quarter and I’d almost always go back to the front counter to order one after finishing my burger at the first McDonald’s to open in my suburban town. Their baked pies just don’t cut it.

7. Nabisco Brown Edge Wafers: This was another goodie I remember eating at my grandparents’ house when I was a little kid. In fact, I recall trying to make Hershey’s Kisses sandwiches with two Brown Edge Wafers taking the place of bread. That was a tough balancing act.

8. Post Alpha-Bits cereal: Who says you can’t learn and eat sweets at the same time? These were also a big favorite of mine for years. At some point, I think Post changed them to whole grain, which probably had a negative impact on how they tasted. And they were discontinued altogether just last year.

9. Ben & Jerry’s Nutty Waffle Cone Ice Cream: Ben & Jerry’s shuffles new flavors in and out all the time, but this is the only which caused me serious heart-ache when it was discontinued. I ate a lot of it during its relatively brief run.

10. Frank’s Soda: Then there is Frank’s. I’ve waxed poetic about one of the most beloved products in Philadelphia history on here before. As of a few years ago, it was still available at select beverage distributors in the region, but they haven’t been made by the original company for many years and may be gone altogether by now. I could never get enough of their fruit flavors – Black Cherry Wishniak, Orange, and Grape – during my formative years. In fact, once, when I was a teen, my parents went away on vacation for a week and I drank nothing but Frank’s Black Cherry Wishniak the entire time they were gone. Okay; so I paid for that at the end of the week.

On an unrelated note, GO NOVA!!!