Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Pining for discontinued foods! (lighthearted) rant!

1000 replies

summerchild82 · 04/05/2026 13:40

About 20 years ago when I was at Uni, I lived opposite a LIDL (back when you had to find a carboard box to carry your stuff around!). They used to do a Ristorante Frutti Di Mare frozen pizza (I think it was 2 in a box) and it still pisses me off that it was discontinued. It wasn't just prawns, it had mussels and other stuff (possibly olives) on it. I still think about the bastard things today and I just thought there must be others who have their long lost foods.

Others for me are Brannigans crisps and more recently, Fries To Go! Oh how I could demolish some Fries To Go right now!

What are yours? Join in my rant :)

OP posts:
Thread gallery
60
auserna · 04/05/2026 15:19

Proper old-fashioned Lucozade.
Also - bit niche, this one - Biotiful chocolate (or possibly cocoa) kefir drink.

somewhereintheworld · 04/05/2026 15:20

Vesta curry. You had to add water to the dehydrated curry and rice. Probably crappie but I loved them.

MandyMotherOfBrian · 04/05/2026 15:20

So so many, haven’t rtft in full so possibly all mentioned before but:

Red Bounty
Cadbury Bar Six
Fry’s Five Centres
Rowntree Nutty Bar
Fruit Polos
Fruit Gums (proper, rock hard, round ones)
Cresta - It’s Frothy Man
Burtons Potato Puffs
Burtons Snax (no one remembers these!)
Fresca
Tab
and yes to Vesta Curry/Chow Mein - original style

BillieWiper · 04/05/2026 15:20

Fedupoftheshits · 04/05/2026 15:18

For me it’s Phileas Fogg Mignons Morceaux, Sarah Lee Double Chocolate Gateaux and Entermanns Chocolate Fudge Cake

Omg my dad used to buy me those! I loved them. Like little garlic bread bites? Their California corn chips were awesome too. Phileas Fogg were always a real treat! 😍

Original poster
summerchild82 · 04/05/2026 15:21

RamsaySnowsSausage · 04/05/2026 15:15

Linda McCartney used to do a ready meal lasagne and a ready meal spag bol and they each came with a 5" garlic bread pizza thing. They were so good and all I could 'cook' as a baby vegetarian in a family full of carnivores. The ones they do now are not the same.

Seconding Drifters and beef and mustard Brannigans and M&S used to do ready salted squares in a big bag and a pepper and sweetcorn pasta salad which I could combine to make 3-4 meals as a student.

Are walnut whips still around? M&S do a version but they're not great and cost about £27.99 for 3.

Yes I think walnut whips are still around, I'm sure I got some for my Mum not that long ago - might have been a daft price on Amazon though!

OP posts:
FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 04/05/2026 15:21

Nando’s red pepper dip.

I will never get over it.

DivorcedButHappyNow · 04/05/2026 15:22

Dark chocolate bounty
peanut yorkie bar
Banjo
drifters

Swissrailways · 04/05/2026 15:22

Iamthemoom · 04/05/2026 14:17

Mint Cracknel and Cheesy Criss Cross my 1980s go to snacks. Actually probably a godsend they no longer exist as both were far from healthy!!!

Was going to post mint cracknel! Why i liked eating mint flavoured glass shards is a mystery. I used to but one every Saturday, pocket money day.

BlackeyedSusan · 04/05/2026 15:22

Aldi sweet and sour cup shots.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 04/05/2026 15:22

BillieWiper · 04/05/2026 15:18

Ooh, loads. From the 80s up until the late 2010s...

Findus crispy pancakes.
Findus french bread pizza.
Findus frozen mousse desserts.
Doner kebab flavour wheat crunchies.
Cheesy nikniks.
Coconut boost bar.
Pizza flavoured cheese strings.
Safeways prawn cocktail sandwich.
In fact just prawns in general used to taste amazing in the late 80s. Now they taste of nothing.
All the fizzy/soft drinks that used to have sugar but now have sweetners, including ribena. Especially Ribena. The strawberry one.
Topic bar. Has that genuinely been discontinued? Was my fave chocolate but not seen one in years.
McDonalds chicken sandwich when it first came out. Now it's vile!
Also McDonald's Pizza.
Two Dogs alcoholic lemonade.
Umbongo. They drink it in the Congo. Think the adverts might have been racist?!

Yes Topics are gone.

EnjoythemoneyJane · 04/05/2026 15:22

Lots of love for Phileas Fogg on this thread - they were a client of a company I used to work for, so there were always boxes and boxes of the stuff lying around. Can still taste the corn chips now, but maybe that’s because they got stuck in your teeth for so long!

ChaosAD · 04/05/2026 15:22

Prize bars
Montego biscuits
Golden Cup
Cabana
Peach Angel Delight
🥺

BlackeyedSusan · 04/05/2026 15:23

And fruit spangles

Original poster
summerchild82 · 04/05/2026 15:23

Sooose · 04/05/2026 15:14

I know this is meant to be about foods, but Pear's soap, before they changed the recipe. I could never buy it again after that.

Foods: there are many. Waitrose had amazing non-wheat pasta for a while. spelt penne and buckwheat fusilli. Not expensive and delicious. Sainsbury's is now my regular shop and they have recently stopped stocking Mutti vegan bolognese (I'm not vegan but, boy was it delicious). And Seabrook crisps, both cheaper and nicer than Walkers etc. Okay you can still get those on Ocado...

The worst for me (again off-topic, not food) was Body Shop. They original range of shampoos/conditioners/bshower gel were so perfect. I was planning on buying the same 3 or 4 things for my whole life they were that good. Then they sold to venture capitalists, the whole heart was ripped out of the business, the whole range revamped over and over - they lost me on about the third revamp, never to return. A wonderful British business utterly ruined. So it was chamomile or ice blue shampoo, banana conditioner, coconut and lime shower gel. That and the fantastic range of body butters which were so nice, but a bit too expensive to buy all the time.

I know this is meant to be a light-hearted thread, but I honestly am continuing to mourn these products so many years later...

You're absolutely fine, rant away. It is pretty awful when you find the ideal product and it's just swept away from you. It must be really hard for people with limited safe foods (I don't like to drag the light-heartedness out of it either but it's a fair point)

OP posts:
WalterMittysPuppet · 04/05/2026 15:23

Sara Lee Pecan Danish
Sainsburys low fat cherry cheesecake
Peanut Boost (a Star Bar is similar but more chewy than crunchy)
Coffee walnut whips (praying for someone in the comments to tell me where I can get some, M&S seem to have discontinued them too)

Fetaface · 04/05/2026 15:24

Iamthemoom · 04/05/2026 14:17

Mint Cracknel and Cheesy Criss Cross my 1980s go to snacks. Actually probably a godsend they no longer exist as both were far from healthy!!!

You can get similar to mint cracknel in a bar called Peppermint Crisp. It is from SA so you can buy it on SA food pages online. With this though you bite the ends off and suck milk up through the middle as the mint is in straw like pieces inside. Yummy!

https://southafricanshop.uk/products/peppermint-crisp-35g-aus?srsltid=AfmBOopdixQQCZTD989XnMej5DeYI49uUFT4SrChcn3xIMCq3wOxv0_a

Nestle Peppermint Crisp 35g (Aus)

Nestle Peppermint Crisp 35g (Aus) Indulge in the irresistible Nestle Peppermint Crisp, a classic treat that delights the senses with every bite. Each 35g bar is a perfect harmony of rich, creamy milk chocolate generously infused with crisp, refreshing...

https://southafricanshop.uk/products/peppermint-crisp-35g-aus?srsltid=AfmBOopdixQQCZTD989XnMej5DeYI49uUFT4SrChcn3xIMCq3wOxv0_a

BlackeyedSusan · 04/05/2026 15:24

Fedupsequin · 04/05/2026 13:57

Oh, and fruit Club bars!

Ah yes. Loved those.

MandyMotherOfBrian · 04/05/2026 15:24

Oh and Mushroom Double Swiss! Mmmm 😋

StainedGlasses · 04/05/2026 15:25

Grapefruit Fanta. I loved it.
Also, in about 1968 there was a short-lived cereal called Sugar Stars. You might as well have eaten chocolate, to be honest, but it was delicious.

Passingthrough123 · 04/05/2026 15:25

In the Nineties I used to be obsessed Ryvita-style crispbread cheese 'sandwiches' that for some reason you could only buy in Superdrug. They were a bit like the ones in this picture, but better. You could only eat a couple before the dryness took the skin off the roof of your mouth. So moorish though!

Pining for discontinued foods! (lighthearted) rant!
Idontjetwashthefucker · 04/05/2026 15:26

Smith's ready salted Chipsticks, loved them...especially on a corned beef and onion sandwich on cheap white bread 😋

AsimpleOstrich · 04/05/2026 15:27

I am still grieving the discontinuation of Sainsbury's ready salted chip sticks. It's been about 30 years now since I last saw them.
I don't mean the piddly, hard things they sell now, which look like shards of wood. These were big and puffy and amazing. They sell them in the salt and vinegar flavour so why can't they make them in ready salted!?
Also, Sunpat cheese spread in a jar.
Vice versa's.
Neopolitan chocolates.
Walkers mix ups, the cheese flavoured ones, when they had cheesey monster munch in them.
And more recently, M&S giant mint chocolate buttons!

ConstanzeMozart · 04/05/2026 15:27

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 04/05/2026 15:22

Yes Topics are gone.

Show quote history

Umbongo. They drink it in the Congo. Think the adverts might have been racist?!
Hell yes Grin

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In
This thread is not accepting new messages.