3 Food Trends We Quickly Forgot About

Ah, food trends. Sources of so much discussion, so many TikTok videos, and such intense fatigue. Food trends are inescapable for anyone who has a social media account these days, and here at Sporked, we’ve been awash with them throughout 2026: The never-ending march of swicy (and the potential approach of spricy), the bizarre rise of quesomaxxing, and protein. Lots and lots and lots of protein, in ever-more weird forms. 

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Some of these trends will stick around – some of them HAVE stuck around – for longer than we think. Others, though, will soon be gone. Dust. Dead. Just like a couple of trends that were once absolutely everywhere, and now feel decidedly niche. Let’s take a little dip back into recent food history to look at some trends from the last decade or so that now feel like a faint memory. Kinda.

Activated Charcoal

Remember when we were all being sold foods with activated charcoal in them? That was a weird time, wasn’t it? From roughly 2016 to 2018, activated charcoal was the go-to addition to foods: Not only did it give dishes and drinks a jet-black, vaguely goth aesthetic, but there was also a wellness drive behind it, with foods containing activated charcoal allegedly having a detoxifying benefit. 

Thus, we saw activated charcoal in burger buns, lattes, pizzas, ice cream, you name it. And then, as quickly as it began, it drifted off, partly because people became increasingly concerned about the charcoal’s ability to limit absorption of essential nutrients and make prescription medication ineffective. Black ice cream hasn’t gone away – but charcoal’s definitely not a go-to ingredient anymore. 

Freakshakes

Ah, the questionably named freakshake. A trend that popped up, once again, in the latter half of the 2010s, these Australian-born creations were milkshakes writ large: Wild desserts piled high with waffles, brownies, fruit, candy, cream, you name it, and usually served in a mason jar. The idea was that these milkshakes were BIG. Over-the-top. And you could get a bit freaky with ‘em.

Overblown milkshakes are still around, of course – but the term “freakshakes” has drifted off, and to be honest, that’s probably not a bad thing. I never liked it to begin with. 

Unicorn Food

Hey, guess what? This one started in the late 2010s, too! Unicorn food was a feast for the eyes, if what your eyes wanted was a bunch of lurid colors smashed together. It all began when food influencers, bloggers, and recipe designers started to embrace the possibilities of natural food colorings to create visual impact – and thus, we saw a parade of desserts, drinks, and grilled cheeses adorned with rainbow tones.

Starbucks raised the ante in 2017, releasing a Unicorn Frappuccino. Although the chain duly brought this back this year, we don’t think it’ll reignite the unicorn food trend in a major way. By the end of the 2010s, people were done: “Can we please stop turning all our food into unicorns?” pleaded an article in The Kitchn back in 2019. We’re inclined to say we agree with them. Be gone with you!