How do you remember food in the 90s?

By Rebecca Almond

Toys in cereal boxes, Zack from Saved By The Bell, Neil Buchanan’s mind-blowing Big Art Attacks – THE SPICE GIRLS! How I loved the 90s. Granted I was just a child but the way I remember it, things were simpler back then.

Trading Pogs, finding your first love through Dream Phone, learning every single word of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air rap (I still know it by heart)… Panda Pop chugging at Charlie Chalk Fun Factory, playing Snake on a Nokia 6110, having nightmares about the Godzilla-esque notion that was The Millennium Bug… Ahhh those were the days.

Recalling the food of the 90s makes me equally as misty-eyed with nostalgia. So what if it wasn’t defined by sophistication and superfoods? Convenience was king and Captain Birdseye his right-hand man. We welcomed the gastropub, toe-tapped to the catchiest food jingles and cooked along to Ready Steady Cook. I wouldn’t change a mouthful. Grab a bite down memory lane with me, why don’t you…

Kellogg’s Banana Bubbles
Launched in 1995, it was the cereal that thought it was a milkshake. It was confused – as were we – and its bubble burst a few years later.

Bernard Matthews Turkey Dinosaurs
Inspired by the 1993 box office hit Jurassic Park, old Bernie’s logic was: “They’ve seen the movie, now they can have them for tea.” Because who doesn’t want to come face to face with T-Rex at dinner time…?

PG Tips Pyramid Bags
The ‘it’ bag of 1996.

https://youtu.be/MhZpgWsxKTY

Virgin Cola
Richard Branson’s 1994 fizzy drink launch fell flat in the shadow of Coca-Cola’s new ad campaign.

https://youtu.be/TdrE1VMxzoE

Fusion food reared its curious head
Asian-style this, Cajun-spiced that, the Chicken Balti Pie… Some dishes were innovative, but most were inedible. In my house, the trend materialised as Mum serving curry with pasta shells (I’m not sure she understood the concept).

Hooper’s Hooch
The alcopop that filled A&E bays countrywide with teens needing their stomachs pumped.

Hula Hoop BIG O’s
Bigger and, if you ask me, even better than the original, but for some reason the beef and mustard potato snack didn’t cut the, err, mustard.

Toffo
Glue-your-teeth-together goodness.

Dweebs
The sweets that proved copying an 80’s nerd gets you nowhere – they were too similar to their predecessor, so were taken off shelves after a few years.

Cheestrings
A slap in the face for parents who’d taught their kids not to play with their food.

Sunny Delight
The ‘healthy’ fruit juice that had as much sugar as cola and turned children into Oompa Loompas. Tasted lush, though.

Burton’s Cartoonies
If there’s one treat from my childhood I’d reinstate, it would be these bite-size, chocolate-filled, cartoon-faced biscuits.

Cadbury Fuse
The launch day was dubbed ‘Fuesday’ 24 September 1996, but we forgave Cadbury’s folly and bought 40 million of its new chocolate bar in the first week. Something went wrong, though, and now the crunch-chew chocolate ‘fusion’ is but a fond memory.

Cadbury TAZ
By the early Noughties, this 10p tuck shop favourite had spun off into nonexistence. The closest thing to it these days is the 20p Dairy Milk Freddo Caramel, but I can’t bring myself to part with the extra cash.

Onken Frufoo
The yogurt version of a Kinder Surprise – the toy in the middle was equally as naff.

What are your food memories from the 90s? Share them in the comments below