Some snacks disappear with a big announcement. Others simply stop turning up in the candy aisle, leaving fans to wonder what happened. These 11 treats all spent time off U.S. shelves, although a few later returned in a new form or earned a second run.
Butterfinger BB’s
Butterfinger BB’s took the familiar crisp peanut butter center and chocolatey coating and turned it into bite-size balls. They debuted in 1992 with help from The Simpsons advertising campaign. Nestlé discontinued the BB’s in 2006, and the original version has not returned.
PB Crisps
Planters PB Crisps paired a crisp peanut-shaped shell with a creamy peanut butter center. Fans still ask about them, but Planters gives a simple explanation: the company says PB Crisps were discontinued in the 1990s because of low consumer demand. It currently has no plans to bring them back.
Hershey’s Bar None
Hershey introduced Bar None in 1987 as a chocolate wafer bar with chocolate cream, peanuts and a chocolate coating. A 1992 reformulation added caramel and split the bar into two sticks. Sales declined and Hershey dropped it by 1997. The story did not end there. Iconic Candy relaunched BarNone in 2019.
Summit Bar
Mars introduced the Summit Bar in the late 1970s. It combined two wafers, chocolate and roasted peanuts, and advertising pitched it as both candy and cookie. Mars relaunched the bar in 1983 with 30% more chocolate. Reports of melting continued, and Summit disappeared in the mid-1980s.
Marathon Bar
The Marathon Bar was difficult to miss. Mars launched the 8-inch braided caramel bar in 1973, and the wrapper even carried a ruler to show off its length. Its unusual size required separate store displays in some cases. Mars discontinued Marathon in 1981.
Wonka’s Peanut Butter Oompas
Wonka Oompas were an early product from the Wonka candy brand, which grew out of Quaker Oats’ promotion of the 1971 film. The candy-coated pieces combined peanut butter and chocolate in each bite. More recent histories place the original Oompas run in the early 1970s before the product eventually disappeared.
Altoids Sours
Altoids Sours packed fruit-flavored hard candy into the brand’s familiar metal tins. The original Altoids Sours were discontinued in 2010. That product is still gone, but Iconic Candy now sells a recreation called Retro Sours, which is not affiliated with Altoids or Mars Wrigley.
Keebler Magic Middles
Magic Middles hid fudge or peanut butter filling inside a shortbread cookie. They were sold through the 1990s and into the 2000s before disappearing from Keebler’s lineup. A Keebler spokesperson later said the company periodically discontinues products while adding new ones, confirming that Magic Middles were discontinued.
Planters Cheez Balls
Planters Cheez Balls disappeared in 2006, then came back for a limited run in 2018. That comeback can make the snack look current in older articles, but Planters’ present-day FAQ says the cheese snacks are currently unavailable. They managed a return, then left shelves again.
Dunkaroos
Dunkaroos are the happy exception on this list. The cookie-and-frosting snack vanished from U.S. stores for years, but General Mills brought it back in 2020. Unlike some other nostalgia relaunches, this one stuck. General Mills still lists Dunkaroos among its current brands and has expanded the line beyond the classic cookie packs.
Doritos 3D
Doritos 3D debuted in 1998 with puffed, hollow chips instead of the brand’s familiar flat triangles. The original disappeared in the 2000s. Frito-Lay revived the idea as Doritos 3D Crunch at the end of 2020 with new flavors, but the revived version later disappeared from the U.S. lineup.
The Last Bite
A discontinued snack does not always stay gone. Bar None, Dunkaroos, and several sour-candy lookalikes show how strong nostalgia can bring an old idea back. Others, from PB Crisps to Butterfinger BB’s, are still missing from the shelves fans remember.