Fun Facts About Your Favorite 90s Foods

When you think of the 1990s, you might think of things like the Star Wars prequels, The X-Files

and Grunge Rock. But right there, alongside the movies, shows, and records of the decade

are welcome memories of the all-weird, eye-catching, and totally 90s things we used to eat

So, today we're going to take a look at some tasty tidbits about staple foods of the 1990s

Someone cue up Jerry Springer because this 90s lunch is served. Sunny Delight, or Sunny D if you're cool and somehow also still living in the year 1996

was invented in Florida in 1963. Only Florida would invent an orange juice substitute in a state that depends on oranges to survive

But it didn't really take off until the 1990s, where popular commercials highlighted Sunny D's superiority to inferior drinks like Purple Stuff

OJ, Purple Stuff, Sunny Delight. This was especially true in the United Kingdom, where the drink became the 12th best-selling

grocery product pretty much overnight. Sunny Delight was originally promoted as a healthy fruit drink that was like orange juice

If he mixed it with a few other drinks and watered it down with room-temperature ice cubes

But while it may have looked like orange juice, consumers would later discover it was closer

to a soft drink. As more and more kids imbibed the bright orange beverage, however, a slightly more unnerving

problem arose. In 1999, a toddler in Wales who drank Sunny D in large quantities began to turn yellow-orange

The skin color alteration was due to high levels of beta-carotene, the additive that gives Sunny Delight its characteristic hue

A spokesperson for the company argued that the child just drank way too much of the stuff

and that the condition was harmless and would soon return to normal. But people were understandably a little freaked out anyway

You can't just give a baby the complexion of a Simpsons character and not upset anyone

Anyone who lived in the same space as a microwave probably ate their weight in SpaghettiOs in the 90s

But despite their overwhelming popularity in the decade of friends and ER

the Campbell's Soup Company actually introduced SpaghettiOs in the market way back in 1965

Invented by Donald Gork, SpaghettiOs were created to be less messy than traditional spaghetti

which they kind of are, as long as you eat them with a spoon and not, like, your hands

In fact, early marketing material touted the canned pasta as the neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon. Interestingly, the famous catchphrase jingle

uh-oh SpaghettiOs, was also part of the initial marketing. The relentless earworm was loosely

based on the Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again by Jimmy Rogers, who also sang the jingle

Bologna, which is not spelled anything close to how it's pronounced because the world is a cruel

place, was a lunchtime staple for every kid who ever ate lunch out of a paper bag with their name

written on it, but the mystery meat actually traces its origins back to Italy, where it

is intricately linked to the traditional Italian sausage called mortadella. Mortadella originated in Bologna, Italy, and its ingredients aren't a mystery, it's made

of pork. Like many other types of cured meats it was popular by the Middle Ages and during the 17th century counterfeit versions appeared As a result making mortadella was officially tasked to a guild associated with the meat and they were super

serious about it anyone else that tried to make mortadella could reportedly be issued a fine or

even stretched on the rack presumably right next to a nice strip of mortadella bologna is similar

to mortadella but it's made of chicken pork beef or other animal products according to some italian

immigrants brought bologna to the U.S., while others claim it has German influences. But that

may be due to the popularization of the lunch meat by Oscar Mayer, who had that catchy jingle

about their bologna having a first and second name. Oscar Mayer, who was a real guy, arrived in

the U.S. with his German family when he was a teenager. Alongside his brother, he sold bologna

at a meat shop in Chicago during the early 20th century. Because bologna was more affordable than other cured meat

it was especially popular during the Great Depression. Thanks to the invention of sliced bread in 1928

a bologna sandwich became a convenient and cheap way to eat. So, it was literally the greatest sliced meat since the invention of sliced bread

People in the 1990s loved Hamburger Helper. It provided an easy way for latchkey kids and brutally hungover adults

to make a complete meal using only an inexpensive box of noodles and seasoning

and a pound of fresh to gently spoiled meat. But it actually came from an effort to combat rising meat prices

and a general lack of supplies during the 1970s. Companies like Betty Crocker looked to make a buck helping people stretch their meat supply

uh, figuratively. But maybe also literally? Rationing was a weird time. This new aim towards thriftiness led to several new products

Of course, when it comes to making meat last longer, the options are pretty limited

You can either freeze it or, uh, bury it in a time capsule, maybe

The only other thing you can do is make meat-centric dishes that use as little meat as possible

Not enough to fill any bellies, but just enough to make everyone vaguely sad

One of the methods they came up with was to mix the meat with noodles and other carbohydrates

which were more affordable. And it was in that spirit that Hamburger Helper was born

As the name suggests, Hamburger Helper was a way to, well, help hamburgers

A hamburger assistance program, if you will. Except the help in this instance was to help consumers feed their entire household using a relatively small amount of meat

but it also offered additional perks. It was easy to prepare and only required one pan, making cleanup a breeze

And with the initial five hamburger helpers being beef noodle, potato stroganoff, hash, rice oriental, and chili tomato

it offered enough variety to keep meals interesting. Today, there are more than 40 varieties

And how much more help can you really ask for? If you never ate molten chocolate cake in the 1990s, that's because you didn't visit

enough themed restaurants. A dessert menu staple of chain restaurants with at least one airport location, the chocolate

cake with a saucy inside was first created by chef Jean-Georges von Richten in 1987

And even then, it was only created by dumb luck. There were predecessors to the molten lava cake that resembled von Richten specifically one created by chef Michel Brasse of France as early as 1981 But they weren exactly the same Von Richten cake was the result of accidental underbaking

while Brasse developed more of a type of cookie dough with chocolate in the center. Wait, cookie dough

Uh, where can we get that cake? Other potential molten chocolate cake ancestors

include the Tunnel of Fudge cake made by the second-place finisher in a Pillsbury Bake Off in 1966

and a more recent creation by chocolatier Jacques Torres in France. In any case, hopefully mankind will continue to innovate and excel

in the area of cakes that bleed chocolate like that elevator in The Shining every time you take a bite

Ah, fish sticks. The great parental compromise for kids who won't eat seafood

These breaded and fried strips of Poseidon's bounty were a regular fixture for many families in the 90s

who spent time in the frozen food aisle. But they're quite a bit older than that, and were created to help offload a bunch of ocean scraps

Historian Paul Josephson, who is apparently completely unconcerned with protecting anyone's appetite, calls the development of fish sticks the result of a need-to process and sell tons

of fish that were harvested from the ocean, filleted and frozen in huge, solid blocks

His article in the topic, which has the fantastic title, The Ocean's Hot Dog

The Development of the Fish Stick, highlights how the breaded slabs of pressed fish met the

needs of fish suppliers as well as a growing consumer culture during the 1950s. But regardless

of what they're made of, and it's mostly Alaska Pollock for the record, fish sticks bring to mind

cafeteria lunchrooms and diners alike for many individuals who grew up during the 1990s

In one part of the U.S., however, fish sticks and professional hockey found a surprising and

embarrassing connection during the same decade. The New York Islanders hockey team introduced a

new mascot in the mid-90s that bore a striking resemblance to the Gordons Fisherman. The mascot

of Gorton's Seafood, who, among other things, produces a whole bunch of fish sticks. So when

they saw the new mascot, fans of opposing teams would start chanting, We want fish sticks

Islanders fans also hated the mascot and created banners that said fish sticks are for dinner

not our logo. The mascot wasn't actually inspired by Gorton's. It was a tribute to the Billy Joel

song, The Downeaster Alexa, which the team felt personified the Long Island coastal experience

but apparently just made everyone think about fish sticks and not the piano man. Despite the negative reactions, the Islanders kept the mascot for more than two years before

rebranding to their original logo in 1997. Salisbury Steak is typically associated with

1990s cafeteria lunches and 1950s TV dinners, and no other period in between. It is a temporal

anomaly of budget meal preparation. One taste of its signature mushroom and onion sauce will

instantly transport you back to middle school during the Clinton administration. But Salisbury steak originated as a way of curing digestive issues during the 19th century

an exciting time in which gravy-soaked meat could still be considered medicine

Dr. James Salisbury was an American physician who was after a cure for chronic diarrhea

The cure wasn for himself though it was for the troops fighting the Civil War which gives the Battle of Bull Run an entirely new meaning As part of his efforts Salisbury developed a diet of broiled meat and clear liquids but devoid of fruits vegetables and acidic additives

He found the diet reduced bloating and diarrhea in test subjects, and again later when he distributed it amongst members of the military

Salisbury didn't serve his ground beef plain, but rather covered in butter, salt, pepper, and gravy

After all, the man was a doctor. He even published a book on his diet and attracted some fairly dedicated followers

sort of like a 19th century Dr. Atkins. The dish was a staple for the military well into the 20th century

but according to reports, in the cookbook of the United States Navy of 1904

it was listed as hamburger steak. This name was later considered too German-sounding

so it was renamed after the diarrhea chef Ph.D. himself, James Salisbury

Pizza Hut changed the world forever in 1995 with the introduction of the stuffed crust pizza

The Hut was already a 90s staple at that point thanks to tie-ins with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

and the uncanny X-Men. But jamming their crusts full of delicious melted cheese

made it a destination for adults as well. Unless you believe Angelo Anthony Mangello

who claims to have patented the style in 1987. The New Jersey pizza maker actually sued Pizza Hut

over the incredibly valuable idea. But because his patent was for stuffing shells

rather than for the style of crust itself, the suit was dismissed. When stuffed crust pizzas hit the market, the concept really took off

Around the world, people even started stuffing crusts with different fillings that reflected local palates

In Australia, Vegemite, made from yeast extract, vegetable flavoring, and spices, was stuffed into pizza crust

while Hong Kong enjoyed crusts full of fish eggs. Sure, I guess you could do that to a pizza

No! God! And in Japan, stuffed crust pizzas with pockets of shrimp, sausage, camembert cheese, and mozzarella cheese was introduced in 2015

Like we said, stuffed crust pizza changed the world. Kid Cuisine Frozen Dinners were TV dinners created specifically for kids in the 1990s

so much so that their mascots were a skateboarding penguin and a polar bear wearing sunglasses

They featured kid-friendly meals like pizza, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, and macaroni and

cheese, alongside side dishes and a dessert. And while the nutritional value, or lack thereof

immediately raised eyebrows, the brand developed a reputation for being a fast way for adults to

feed their kids. So it thrived. Hey, it's cheaper than takeout, and that penguin looks like he's

having a good time. Kid Cuisine was particularly shrewd with its marketing. It didn't just appeal

to parents' wallets. It aimed to lure kids in as well by participating in cross-promotions with

popular kids' movies like Oliver & Company, The Jungle Book, and The Swan Princess. Their

commercials were also heavily geared towards children, as the company embraced what is known

as the pester factor. That's essentially the likelihood that a kid will annoy their parents

to death if the kids don't buy them whatever cool thing they saw in a commercial. Kid Cuisine is

still around and still includes foods like chicken nuggets, corn dogs, macaroni, french fries

and brownies with sprinkles in the company's continued effort to make mealtime fun. It's

unclear whether they still have that pester factor, but that penguin probably has a TikTok