24 Most Bizarre Snacks Ever Invented That Make Us Go, “Why?”

We’re all for creativity in the snack food industry, but sometimes manufacturers miss the mark. From green bean-flavored candy to pumpkin spice noodles, there are many snacks that leave Americans puzzled. These 24 examples make it clear that new and innovative don’t always equate to success. 

1: Pumpkin Spice Spam

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Pumpkin Spice latte? Yes, please. We’ll also take pumpkin spice muffins, bars, and cakes. But Pumpkin Spice Spam is a crime against American taste buds. 

2: Heinz EZ-Squirt Colored Ketchup

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There’s something very unappealing about bright green and purple slime smothered over french fries, which is basically what Heniz EZ-Squirt Colored Ketchup was. It tasted like ketchup, and many ’90s kids adored it. But it made more than one parent a little squeamish. 

3: Kraft Candy Macaroni & Cheese 

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In 2021, Kraft decided to enter the Valentine’s Day game with an appalling take on Mac & Cheese. Pepto-Bismol pink noodles and sauce weren’t winning any hearts. 

4: Sweet Tarts Squeeze

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Sweet Tarts are a childhood favorite, but most prefer them in hard candy form. As a gel you could squeeze from a toothpaste-like tube, people were less sure about them. 

5: Sabra Dark Chocolate Hummus

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There are many acceptable hummus variations, like garlic, sundried tomato, or even parsley. However, Sabra’s 2020 release of Dark Chocolate Hummus is one we wish they’d left on the drawing board. 

6: Bubble Jug Bubble Gum 

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Gum can take many forms, but powder in a jug shouldn’t be one of them. Bubble Jug Bubble Gum started as a flour-like powder, but when chewed, it bizarrely turned into gum. 

7: Jell-O Pudding Bites

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Jell-O attempted to enter the candy aisle in the early 2000s with Jell-O Pudding Bites. These strange fruit chews with a pudding-like texture were abhorrent to many reviewers. However, some people miss them so much, they’re petitioning for a comeback. 

8: Chobani Sriracha Mango Yogurt

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Sriracha was a top flavor in 2015, and Chobani decided to capitalize on it. However, something about hot sauce in yogurt is just off-putting, even when mango is involved. 

9: Macaroni & Cheese Gummies

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Mac and cheese in gummy form isn’t something anyone was pining for. Still, Kraft partnered with Frankford Candy and released them. Making matters worse, they’re oddly tropical fruit-flavored. 

10: Swedish Fish Oreos

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Oreo has released some incredible flavors over the years, but Swedish Fish wasn’t one of them. Customers might have been able to look past the ghastly red filling if the cookies had tasted amazing. Unfortunately, Swedish Fish and chocolate cookies aren’t a winning combination. 

11: Ranch Dressing Soda

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Americans love ranch dressing on everything from carrot sticks to pizza. However, even the ranch-obsessed have limits, and ranch soda goes way beyond them. Made by Lester’s Fixins, the company also sells Bacon, Pickle, and Buffalo Wing-flavored pops. 

12: Van Leeuwen’s Pizza Ice Cream

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Pizza followed by ice cream is a classic indulgence meal. However, no one asked to put the two together in frozen form. That is, except for the Van Leeuwen marketing executives who launched the flavor in 2022. 

13: Brach’s Taco Truck Jelly Beans

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As Today reported, Brach’s Taco Truck-flavored jelly beans tasted like the compost pile behind a salsa factory. It turns out that beef taco-flavored jelly beans aren’t something Americans want to eat. 

14: Brach’s Turkey Dinner Candy Corn

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Brach’s Turkey Dinner Candy Corn took a controversial candy and made it worse. Green bean-flavored candy corn is an absolute abomination. 

15: Van Leeuwen’s Mac & Cheese Ice Cream 

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Americans love macaroni and cheese almost as much as they love ice cream. But combining them is a strange choice. While many were disgusted by macaroni and cheese-flavored ice cream, it has its fans, and Van Leeuwen re-released it in 2023

16: Jelly Beans’ BeanBoozled Game

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If you need a gift for someone you hate, Jelly Beans’ BeanBoozled Game might make sense. Otherwise, this food-based “game,” which includes jelly beans in flavors like liver and onions, is best left on the shelf. 

17: Pickle Flavor Cotton Candy

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The county fair is a great place to pick up a giant dill pickle or sweet cotton candy. However, no one was putting the two together. That didn’t stop gourmet grocery company Chocolate Storybook from creating pickle cotton candy. Thanks, but that’s a hard pass.

18: Pumpkin Spice Cup Noodles

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In honor of their 50th anniversary, Nissin’s Cup Noodles launched a pumpkin spice flavor in 2021. Unlike their regular ramen-style microwave meals, this one was sauce rather than broth-based, though we’re not sure that made it any better.  

19: Aunty’s Spotted Dog

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Spotted dog is a traditional British steamed pudding. But to an American audience, this treat is more than a little strange. Many can barely get past the name, let alone appreciate a waxy-looking bread stuck with raisins. Even so, you can find this pudding at some Walmart locations. 

20: Shiitake Mushroom Candy Canes

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Archie McPhee, the maker of the bizarre shitake mushroom candy cane flavor, notes that Santa is a “fungi with mushroom in his heart.” While that may be true, Americans aren’t ready for fungus-flavored candies, and we probably never will be. 

21: Poop Like a Champion Cereal

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High-fiber cereal has many digestional benefits, but naming your product after its effects isn’t always a good idea. It doesn’t really matter how this cereal tastes. With a name like that, it’s almost sure to make your appetite vanish. 

22: Lay’s Cappuccino Potato Chips

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There have been many not-so-great chip flavors over the years, but Lay’s Cappuccino might take the cake for the worst flavor ever in existence. News flash: No one is craving coffee-flavored potato chips.

23: French’s Ketchup Popsicle 

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Ketchup popsicles, or Frenchsicles, as they were coined, are quite literally made of frozen ketchup. Fortunately, this odd creation was only sold in Canada. But if you feel left out, French’s gives the recipe away for free on its website. 

24: Mister E Pop-Tarts 

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Kellogg’s released its “Mister E” Pop-Tarts flavor in 2021 as part of a marketing gimmick. You could purchase the pop tarts, guess the flavor, and try to win prizes. Sadly, many noted that these breakfast treats tasted of garlic and cheese, not something anyone wants in a toaster pastry. 

25 Discontinued Foods That Americans Miss Seeing on the Shelf

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Every once in a while, big-name brands pull products with huge followings off the shelf, saddening Americans across the country. These are the foods Americans want back the most.

25 Discontinued Foods That Americans Miss Seeing on the Shelf

24 Old-Fashioned Candies That Need To Make a Comeback

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From childhood classics to forgotten chocolates, these treats bring back memories of simpler times. Rediscover the joy of beloved confections that deserve to make a comeback.   

24 Old-Fashioned Candies That Need To Make a Comeback

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