16 Discontinued Candies (And Where to Find Your Retired Favorites)

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Reminisce with a list of retro and recently out-of-production sweets
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For every candy that becomes an iconic favorite, there are dozens more that get discontinued by confectioners every year. The reasons for giving the sweets the axe range from low sales and cost-cutting measures to changing tastes. Even the most beloved of candies risks getting taken off shelves, though nostalgic fans petition for their return. Below is a list of 15 discontinued candies people wish would come back. Plus, keep scrolling to learn where to buy discontinued candies.

Popular Discontinued Candies

  1. Butterfinger BB’s
  2. Altoid Sours
  3. PB Max
  4. Maple Nut Goodies
  5. Wonka Donutz
Section 1 of 4:

16 Discontinued Candy Bars & Treats

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  1. Butterfinger BB’s were like Butterfingers, but smaller and round for easy snacking. They debuted in 1992 and even had The Simpsons star in their advertising campaign. [1] Unfortunately, the bite-sized treats disappeared around 2006. [2] Nestle issued the similar Butterfinger Bites in 2009, and these are still available today.
  2. 2
    Summit Bars Mars’ Summit Bars, a blend of a cookie and a candy, hit store shelves in 1977. [3] Unfortunately, they were prone to melting in the package. Mars tried to reformulate them in 1983, but it wasn’t enough to save the mountainous treats. Too messy to enjoy, Mars discontinued Summit Bars by 1984. [4]
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  3. 3
    Life Savers Holes If you thought donut holes were genius, you were probably the target market for Life Savers Holes when they dropped in 1990. A counterpart to the iconic ring-shaped candies, these were Life Savers in spherical form. Unfortunately, they were a choking hazard, and Life Savers pulled them from shelves in 1991. They came back briefly later that year before being discontinued for good. [5]
  4. 4
    PB Max In 1990, Mars released the PB Max, a chocolate-covered cookie featuring a layer of peanut butter and a smattering of oats. Unlike some other discontinued candies, the PB Max reportedly did well with consumers, raking in $50 million in lifetime sales. However, Mars discontinued it in 1994. [6] Former Mars executive Alfred Poe claimed it was because the billionaire Mars family didn’t like peanut butter. [7]
  5. 5
    Bubble Beepers Pagers, aka beepers, were all the rage in the 1990s. Amurol Confections created the novelty gum Bubble Beepers to cash in on the hype. The candy’s neon pink-and-green box resembled a beeper. On the inside were equally neon-hued sticks of gum with text messages printed on the wrappers. Bubble Beepers went out of style in the mid-1990s, and beepers followed suit not long after. [8]
  6. 6
    Wonka Bar You might’ve seen the classic ‘70s movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory , but did you know Wonka Bars were real? Quaker Oats made them starting in 1975, but these weren’t popular. [9] Nestle brought them back in the late ‘90s, but they were never a staple on store shelves. They left for the last time in 2014, but fans hold out hope that they’ll return again. [10]
    • A Wonka Bar had crunchy graham cracker pieces covered in milk chocolate.
  7. 7
    Altoid Sours From 2004 to 2010, Altoid Sours captured the hearts (and burned the roofs of the mouths) of millions. Adding a sour twist to the classic mint candy, the popular treats came in flavors like mango, tangerine, and citrus. Unfortunately, they were cut due to poor sales. Fans clamoring for their return can try the Iconic Candy reboot, supposedly based on the original recipe. [11]
  8. 8
    Chicken Dinner Chicken Dinner sounds like a made-up product from a Saturday Night Live sketch, but it was indeed a real candy. Introduced in the 1920s, the odd name was meant to persuade consumers that the candy was healthy. Chicken Dinner was just chocolate-covered nuts. Despite (or because of) the weird name, the candy remained in stores until the ‘60s. [12]
  9. 9
    Hershey’s S’Mores S’Mores, the classic campfire treat featuring a gooey melted marshmallow and a chocolate square between two crisp graham cracker pieces, was already associated with Hershey’s chocolate. The Pennsylvania chocolatier decided to take things to the next level when they launched their own S’Mores-flavored candy bar in 2003. It didn’t take off, and Hershey’s removed it from their lineup in 2012. [13]
  10. 10
    Maple Nut Goodies It seemed Maple Nut Goodies would go on forever. Brach’s peanut-and-toffee treats came out in 1912 and had legions of fans as recently as 2024. Unfortunately, the company pulled them from shelves that year, discontinuing the longtime fall-favorite treat. [14]
  11. 11
    Wonka Donutz Warner Bros. released their adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , in 2005. Timed with the release, Nestlé launched Wonka Donutz, a truffle-like chocolate candy shaped like a donut. While it stayed on shelves past the theatrical run, in 2013, the Ferrara Candy company confirmed it had been discontinued. [15]
  12. 12
    Garbage Can-dy Garbage Can-dy (sugar shaped like pieces of trash) came in containers shaped like garbage cans. They launched in the mid-1970s. The maker of Garbage Can-dy, Topps, also created the popular Garbage Pail Kids cards, and both were the brainchild of cartoonist Art Spiegelman. Sadly, the trashy treats didn’t take off and were discontinued in 1996. [16]
  13. 13
    Skittles Bubble Gum While candy-flavored gums are all the rage now, they used to be more of a novelty product. A prime example: Skittles Bubble Gum, launched by Wrigley in 2004. The tagline for the gum, which vanished from shelves in 2010, was “inflate the rainbow.” Skittles fans appreciated the gum’s long-lasting flavor and continue to petition for its return. [17]
  14. 14
    Berries and Creme Starburst TikTok resurrected the ad campaign for this discontinued Starburst chewy candy variety, known for its commercials starring the so-called “Little Lad” who loves berries and creme. [18] The candy itself launched in 2007, but Mars quietly discontinued it around 2017.
  15. 15
    Hershey’s Swoops In the early 2000s, Hershey’s shook up the snack-food aisle with a chocolate snack shaped like a potato chip—and packaged in a canister eerily similar to the one used for single-serving Pringles. The trendy slices didn’t catch on, and Hershey’s discontinued them in 2006. [19]
  16. 16
    Johnny Apple Treats and Cherry Clan Candy In the ‘70s, the Ferrara Candy Company released a variety of chewy fruit-flavored candies, including Johnny Apple Treats (a pun on Johnny Appleseed) and Cherry Clan (a veiled reference to the character Charlie Chan). [20] In the ‘90s, the candies were rebranded as Appleheads and Cherryheads after the popularity of Ferrara’s Lemonhead candies. They were later discontinued. [21]
    • Lou Pagano II, the great-grandson of the candies’ original creator, brought Johnny Apple Treats and other flavors back in 2020. However, it appears that Pagano II’s 1908 Candy Company discontinued the revived candies in 2021. [22]
    • In 2025, only Lemonhead candy remains. [23]
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Section 2 of 4:

More Discontinued Candy Across the Decades

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  1. 1
    Discontinued candy from the ‘80s Gen Xers have fond memories of the funky and over-the-top candies that ruled the ‘80s. While many of the decade’s sweets live on today, a fair share of them can’t be bought anymore, having been discontinued years or decades ago. Below is a brief list of some of the discontinued ‘80s candies that people miss today:
    • Hershey’s Bar None (1987-1997) [24]
    • Mr. Bones Puzzle Candy (1970s - 1990s)
    • Choco’Lite (1970s - late 1980s)
    • Nestlé Alpine White (1986 - mid-1990s) [25]
    • Marathon Bar (1973-1981) [26]
    • PowerHouse (late 1960s - late 1980s)
    • Dina-Sour Eggs (1981 - 1990s)
    • The Milkshake Bar (1920s - 1988)
    • Space Dust (1978 - 1980s) [27]
    • Bonkers (1984 - early 2000s) [28]
  2. 2
    Discontinued candy from the ‘90s ‘90s nostalgia was an Internet meme for a while in the form of “only ‘90s kids remember this” jokes. Now, it’s taken seriously again as Millennials get nostalgic about the snack foods and candy that defined their childhood. See how many of these discontinued ‘90s candies you remember!
    • Hubba Bubba Bubble Jug (late 1980s - early 2000s) [29]
    • Kudos Bars (1986 - 2017) [30]
    • Nestlé Magic Ball/Wonder Ball (mid-1990s - 1997) [31]
    • Fruit String Thing (1994 - early 2000s) [32]
    • Soda-Licious Soda Pop Fruit Snacks (1991 - 1998) [33]
    • Surf’s Up! Fruit Snacks (1990 - 1991)
    • Lollipop Paint Shop (late 1990s - mid-2000s) [34]
  3. 3
    Discontinued candy from the 2000s The arrival of the new millennium brought a wave of new candies—or creative variations of classic candies like M&M’s. Whether you were a 2000s baby or an older candy fanatic, you probably miss a few of these discontinued Y2K-era sweets.
    • Crispy M&M’s (1999 - 2005; 2015 - 2022) [35]
    • Hershey’s Kissables (2005 - 2009) [36]
    • Yogos (2005 - early 2010s) [37]
    • Starburst Hard Candy (early 2000s - mid 2000s) [38]
    • BB Bats (1924 - 2021)
    • Ouch! Bubble Gum (1990s - 2009) [39]
    • Ice Breakers Liquid Ice (2003 - 2004) [40]
    • Everlasting Gobstoppers (1976 - 2024) [41]
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Section 3 of 4:

What is the oldest candy bar still sold?

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  1. Fry’s Chocolate Cream (sold since 1866) may be the oldest candy bar. Joseph Fry began selling chocolate in 1756, and his grandchildren later created a hardened, creamy paste made of cocoa powder and cocoa fat that would eventually come to make up the Fry’s Chocolate Cream candy bar. Fry’s merged with Cadbury in 1919, but the legendary chocolate bar kept its original name. Now owned by Kraft, Fry’s Chocolate Cream is now one of (if not the ) oldest chocolate bars on the market. [42]
    • Other old favorites include Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (1900), Cadbury Dairy Milk (1905), and Toblerone (1908).
Section 4 of 4:

Where to Buy Discontinued Candy

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  1. Shop discontinued candy from online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon . On sites like these, people offload discontinued candy that they somehow held onto long after it was discontinued. Since most of this candy is years old, it’s likely well past its expiration date. However, you might want to buy some just to hang on to the nostalgic packaging. Search for the candy on these third-party sites to see if you can find any fairly priced listings.
  2. Buy recreations from vendors like Iconic Candy or Candy Warehouse . Sometimes, candy companies acquire the recipes of discontinued candies (or approximate them as best as they can). They sell their creations to nostalgic fans of discontinued candies as the next best thing. Some of these stores include Iconic Candy (which brought back Altoid Sours) and Candy Warehouse. [43]
    • Always read customer reviews and research sellers thoroughly before purchasing discontinued candy or dupes.
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      References

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      2. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/butterfinger-bbs-discontinued-candy-wish-231547907.html
      3. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1342039/why-messy-summit-bars-discontinued-melted-80s/
      4. ↑ https://www.businessinsider.com/discontinued-childhood-candy-2018-6#summit-bars-melted-too-easily-but-were-the-perfect-messy-snack-7
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      6. ↑ https://www.businessinsider.com/discontinued-childhood-candy-2018-6
      7. ↑ https://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/pb-max-choco-zaba-and-6-other-candies-we-want-back-12652281
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      2. ↑ https://sporked.com/article/why-were-altoid-sours-discontinued/
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      4. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1329908/discontinued-candies-gum/
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      7. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1340411/reason-popular-80s-sweet-garbage-candy-discontinued/
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      10. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1329908/discontinued-candies-gum/
      11. ↑ https://www.candywrappermuseum.com/cherryclanbox.html
      12. ↑ https://www.candyfavorites.com/pages/history-of-ferarra-candy
      13. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/1908-candy-brings-80s-darlings-johnny-apple-treats-alexander-the-grape-cherry-clan-and-mr-melon-to-hy-vee-just-in-time-for-halloween-301160713.html
      14. ↑ https://www.ferrara.com/us/en/lemonhead
      15. ↑ https://www.tastingtable.com/1816423/discontinued-candy-1980s-nostalgia/
      16. ↑ https://food52.com/blog/17972-the-80s-commercial-that-almost-brings-this-discontinued-candy-bar-back-to-life
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      18. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1338328/discontinued-space-dust-pop-rocks-knock-off-name/
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      20. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/back-by-popular-demand-iconic-candy-announces-the-return-of-bubble-jug-a-tribute-to-90s-kids-everywhere-302105219.html
      21. ↑ https://www.foodie.com/1590574/why-kudos-bars-discontinued/
      22. ↑ https://www.historyoasis.com/post/discontinued-candy
      23. ↑ https://www.mashed.com/1635305/discontinued-fruit-snack-string-thing/
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      27. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1314236/hersheys-kissables-discontinued-mms-copycat-totally-fell-flat/
      28. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/35-discontinued-foods-90s-2000s-153233635.html
      29. ↑ https://www.newsweek.com/classic-sweet-treats-no-longer-sold-hershey-nestle-mars-reese-1614030
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      31. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/35-discontinued-foods-90s-2000s-153233635.html
      32. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/everlasting-gobstopper-candies-discontinued-111511056.html
      33. ↑ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1516983/candy-bars-been-around-long-time/
      34. ↑ https://sporked.com/article/altoids-sours-stores-where-to-buy-altoids-sours-news/

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