Ah, the discontinued snack. It holds an allure that few other foodstuffs can touch. While you can often recreate a famous restaurant’s premier dish with reasonably good results, it’s not so easy to manufacture Crystal Pepsi or Altoids Sours at home.
Today’s topic is a particularly beloved item if you were snacking in the mid-2000s: Yogos. The sweet, fruit-flavored snack from Kellog’s was ubiquitous for a few years, but then quickly vanished. But what happened to Yogos? Why were they discontinued? Are they ever coming back? Let’s chomp into some answers, shall we?
What were Yogos?
First, let’s drill down on what exactly Yogos were. Created by Kellog’s and first introduced in 2005, Yogos were bite size, fruit-flavored candy wrapped in a yogurt shell. They were popular enough that Kellog’s introduced spin off products such as Yogos Bits (which, one imagines, were an even smaller variety of the original Yogos).
Why were Yogos discontinued?
So, what happened? If we look a little closer at the nutritional information for Yogos, we may find an answer. You see, as Tasting Table reports, a single serving of Yogos contained 15 grams of sugar, which is quite high (although still well below, say, a can of Coke).
In fact, the primary ingredients of Yogos were sugar and corn syrup. But, because they were yogurt-coated, there was an implicit suggestion that this was a healthier snack choice, which was definitely not the case.
With the obesity epidemic making headlines and concerns about sugar intake rising, Kellog’s was already under scrutiny for its products and marketing. Yogos, with their high sugar content and spurious health associations, made for an easy target. The New York Times published an article in 2010 calling them out specifically, and before long, they were gone, never to be seen again—but often to be heard about. To this day, they are a highly sought after snack.
When were Yogos discontinued?
Yogos left the shelves in 2010. They were only on the market for five years. Yet even in such a short amount of time, they made a huge impact. Sugar, as it turns out, is delicious, and when it’s mixed into chewy fruity candy, it’s pretty hard to top. Welch’s has a fruit and yogurt snack that some people say is kind of close. But, alas, it’s just not the same.
Are Yogos coming back?
The official answer to this question is, sadly, no. According to a 2018 post made on the social networking platform once known as Twitter, there are “no official plans” for the return of the beloved Yogos. As of now, these sugary, sweet, sugar-forward sweet treats are a thing of the past.
However, as is always the case with discontinued foodstuffs, hope springs eternal. These big snack companies know that nostalgia is a powerful force, so there’s always the possibility they could return for a limited run. If they do, just make sure you have easy access to your toothbrush.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!