The world’s love for Funfetti has only grown since the white cake mix with rainbow sprinkles was first introduced by Pillsbury in 1989. By the 1990s, it was a must-have at children’s birthday parties. Now you can pretty much get "Funfetti" everything, from ice cream and cereal to wedding cakes.
Hamburger Helper – a line of packaged pasta and seasoning that you mix with cooked minced beef – came up with an astronomically popular new product for kids in the 1990s: Hamburger Helper Space Adventure. The pasta came shaped like little aliens, starships and stars and you could choose from flavours including Cheese, Spaghetti Sauce, Pizza and Beef.
Do you remember these chewy, beach-themed fruit snacks from Fruit Corners? They were flavoured like summer drinks such as lemonade, orangeade, red punch and pink lemonade, and shaped like sunglasses, starfish, boats, speakers and a surfer. They were relatively short lived, on sale between 1990 and 1991, but made a big splash with their promotional giveaway of a “rad wristband”.
Despite the fast food chain's various promotions, Mighty Wings (bone-in chicken wings) were not something we expected from McDonald's. The menu item was sold throughout the 1990s and has come back twice since. However, it never took off in the same way as its beloved boneless McNuggets.
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Inspired by the success of Reese’s Pieces, the famous candy brand launched a new, peanut-butter version of its sweet treat in 1990. They featured a creamy peanut butter centre, a layer of milk chocolate and the familiar, crunchy, sugar coating.
The "91% fat-free" McLean Deluxe arrived at the Golden Arches in 1991. It was made possible with technology that bound water to beef to make the patty appear big and juicy. It never really hit the spot with punters, though, and ultimately became a fast-food flop.
Kangaroo-shaped cookies and smooth frosting in a plastic snack tray: you can’t get much more Nineties than that. There were two varieties: chocolate chip cookies with chocolate frosting and cinnamon cookies with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles. If you had kids during this decade, Dunkaroos were probably your best tool for bribing them.
A dry, crumbly, tasteless “treat”, SnackWell’s Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes sum up the decade’s obsession with weight loss foods that looked tasty while being anything but. It was so unsatisfying you’d have to have more than one, which became known as the SnackWell’s effect – the tendency to overeat foods labelled low-fat or healthy.
The first-ever non-pizza item arrived at Domino’s in 1992 and it was moreish breadsticks and marinara. It followed Papa Johns and Little Caesars' move to add sauces to their menus. And it also marks the start of the world view that dipping sauce is a necessary accompaniment to pizza...
Who knew McDonald’s sold something so fancy? This deluxe menu item consisted of lobster meat, shredded lettuce and lobster sauce stuffed in a hot dog bun and sold at a wallet-friendly price. It debuted in 1992 and has since reappeared on McDonald’s menus in Canada and New England in summer. If only it made itself a permanent fixture.
A great concept for a kids’ cereal, Hidden Treasures was a lucky dip: you could either pull out a plain or fruit-filled corn pocket when you stuck your fist in the box. The product was on shelves between 1993 and 1995 and its advert featured H.T., a robot who had special powers for checking which cereals hid cherry, orange and grape centres without biting into them.
Check out the breakfast cereals we'd like to make a comeback
Eye-wateringly tart Warheads were a Taiwanese invention brought to the US in 1993. Kids loved how sour they were and would challenge each other to see how many they could stand to eat. They're still around today and they led the way for other extreme candies to be created.
When, in 1993, Ocean Spray launched Craisins as a fruit-based snack instead of a baking ingredient, it switched up the dried fruit category forever. Infinitely more appealing than regular old raisins – and taking on a brilliant jewel colour – Craisins are dried cranberries sweetened with sugar.
Only in the Nineties would star-shaped cereal covered in sprinkles be such a hit. In TV adverts for Sprinkle Spangles, the Sprinkle Genie, voiced by comedian Dom DeLuise, memorably said “You wish it, I dish it” as he summoned up a bowl. They were sadly short-lived, and off shelves by the late 1990s.
The first big name in the frozen pizza industry, Totino’s was best known for its Party Pizza. That is until the early 1990s, when the Pillsbury Company introduced Totino’s Pizza Rolls. Featuring pizza toppings and sauce rolled inside a bite-size crust, they’re still popular today.
Parents of football fans will remember this short-lived cereal featuring mini ball-shaped wheat and corn puffs. Launched in 1994, at the start of the season, the box came with a cut-out goal and encouraged kids to score their breakfast by launching the little balls through the cardboard posts and into their bowls.
Though it’s hard to imagine a time before the McFlurry, it was not that long ago that the vanilla soft-serve – with crushed candies such as M&Ms and Oreo – didn’t exist on the McDonald’s menu. A Canadian creation, the frozen dessert was masterminded by Bathurst, New Brunswick, franchisee Ron McLellan in 1995. It wasn’t long before it was rolled out globally.
Sticky, crunchy, gooey marshmallow and Rice Krispie cakes have been prepared by kids (and mothers) at home for decades. Kellogg’s finally launched a package version in 1995. Simple to make and even simpler to buy, the sugary snack will always be a hit.
The Chinese delicacy xiao long bao – paper-thin dumplings filled with hot soup – made its way to America in 1995. Taking inspiration from Din Tai Fung in Taipei, restaurateur Joe Si opened Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing, New York, and put the novel item on the menu. Word spread and soon copycat versions were available all around the city.
“One slice is never enough” when it comes to Viennetta, the fancy supermarket-bought frozen dessert that ruled the Nineties. Featuring layers of wafer-thin chocolate and smooth vanilla ice cream, it was way tastier, and not to mention more beautiful, than your regular punnet of Neapolitan. It’s still available in some parts of Europe and was recently re-introduced to the US by Good Humor.
Do you remember Orbitz? The so-called “lava lamp of soft drinks” was a fruit-flavoured, non-fizzy beverage with gelatine balls floating in it. It was launched in the Nineties by Clearly Canadian, but failed to ever take off.
Red Velvet Cake was made a sweet cult hit by New York City's Magnolia Bakery, which opened in the West Village in 1996. And this ruby-red cake with cream cheese frosting is still a favourite today.
Still a popular cereal today, General Mills launched French Toast Crunch in 1996. A genius creation, it features tiny toast-shaped pieces of corn cereal flavoured with cinnamon and syrup. It was discontinued for a short while in 2006, but is now firmly back on breakfast menus.
A punky citrus drink in a bright green can, Surge was introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in 1996 to compete with Pepsi’s incredibly popular Mountain Dew. Though it never gained quite the same traction, it has managed to make a bit of a comeback in the few last years, thanks to its retro appeal.
While kids were surviving on sugary snacks and cereal in this decade, adults were doing the exact opposite: cutting carbs. Following the 1992 release of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, the already established high-protein regime gained millions of new followers, allowing the brand to launch a line of shakes and the Atkins Advantage Bar.
The unnaturally orange energy drink was launched in Austria in 1987 and by the following decade it had reached Europe and the US. Young people loved it in particular, because it helped them stay awake to study (and party all hours of the night). Known for sponsoring extreme sports, it’s one of the biggest branding success stories today.
Want more? Check out the sodas America adored the decade you were born
These squeezy tubes of fruit-flavoured yoghurt won the hearts of kids and parents throughout the Nineties. Its younger fans loved that boxes came with a free 'fingerboard' skateboard and that the yoghurt treats could be frozen to make creamy ice lollies. Its best-selling flavours are Strawberry and Berry.
The hot cocktail of the late 1990s consisted of a bright pink glass of vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice. The cosmopolitan trend was undoubtedly started by Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda and season one of Sex and the City.
When molten chocolate cake first appeared on menus, we thought it was the most innovative dessert ever. French chefs Michel Bras and Jean-Georges Vongerichten both lay claim to its creation. Now it's everywhere, including the supermarket, and the gooey, warm dessert is still a favourite of many.
This simple salad features romaine lettuce, croutons, Parmesan and an anchovy, garlic, egg yolk and lemon juice dressing – and it reached peak popularity in the Nineties. Supermarket sales of ready-made caesar dressings rose by almost a quarter in 1990 and the comeback classic salad was a particular hit at swish seafood restaurants too.
Only a lucky few had the chance to try McDonald’s Pizza, a personal-size pizza with four slices and toppings such as cheese, pepperoni, green pepper and onion. It was served at just under half of McDonald’s outlets in America for a brief period between the late 1980s and early 1990s. The problem was it took far too long to prepare, which left branches unable to justify serving it.
There's no doubt this sugary cereal should have been advertised as dessert and not breakfast. Launched in 1998, it featured crunchy, chocolate loops and bits of Oreo cookie coated in the crème that goes in the centre. Nonetheless, it was loved by kids and has made a sweet comeback in recent years.
It was the end of the decade, in 1999, when Colonel Sanders decided to enter the burger game and turn his famous Original Recipe Chicken into a sandwich. It featured a soft bun, golden breaded chicken, salad and mayo, and early commercials joked "them burger boys would love to have this".
Now find out which fast food favourite everyone loved the year you were born
The best invention since pizza, stuffed crust pizza was introduced to the world by Pizza Hut in 1995. To make the golden, cheesy crust, pizza dough edges are folded over a layer of mozzarella. Unbelievably, former president Donald Trump featured in the TV commercials.
Want more? Read fast food failures we wish would make a comeback