Food of the Eighties, Products Beginning with P

I've been asked a couple of times for information about what food was specific to the 80s, so I've started a small list which I'm sure will grow pretty rapidly. Cereals of the 80s have their own page.

This list contains items that were around before and after the 80s, I'm looking for stuff that was still popular in the 80s. So this list will contain items that were around in the 70s, and maybe earlier if they were still popular.

Please note! Zima and clear colas were a 90s fad, not an 80s fad! I know it might seem like a long time ago, but that's only because they tasted so awful and were marketed so heavily. (Somehow, Zima still persists, though no one has determined why).

This page currently edited by: 80s Cheerleader. Past editor: Banasy



Food beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]
PB Maxx
It was a Chunky sized candy, with a square cookie base and a huge amount of peanut butter on top covered in milk chocolate. I remember eating these in the late 80s, they were the best!
PDQ
I'm pretty sure that's what this stuff was called. I don't know if it was introduced in the 80's or earlier, but I do know that it disappeared after the 80's. It was cannisters of chocolate or vanilla milk mix. It was more crystal form than powder, and I remember if you put it on ice cream when it started melting it would turn colors.
Pac Man Cereal
New Pac Man! Chomp chomp D-licious . With inky pinky and blinky and marshmellow bits you can find inside.
Pac Man Chicken
Not sure about the name but it was in a can with a blue wrapper and pac man and the ghosts on the front. It was a chicken flavored sauce with pac man shaped noodles and possibly chicken and vegetable pieces. It was sort of like a chicken flavored Spaghettio's. The consistancy's of the sauces were similar.
Pac Man Popsicles
There were two kinds. The "Pac Man" was a Pac-Man shaped bar that was yellow and lemon flavored and the "ghosts" which were red and were cherry flavored. Both were on sticks and both had gumballs for eyes. Came out in the early 80's.
Pan Pizza
Although still big today, these first hit in the 80s.
Panzarotti
Made by Chef boy are dee i think. Just like taking a biscut out ...rolling it flat....and spreading on a tomato topping with cheese and pepperoni...like a hot pocket or calzone in the 90's (i remember these coming out after 1986
Payday
The commercials said it was "the nuttiest bar in town". A peanut log with caramel and nougat.
Payday Chocolate
It was a regular Payday candy bar covered in chocolate. Really good. I miss those.
Peanut Bopper's
It had peanut butter in the middle and nuts all around it. They put it by the fruit roll-ups at the store.
Peanut Butter Snickers Bar
The best candy bar ever made, period! It was a snickers bar that had peanut butter. What more could you ask for.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Pop Tarts
They were the Pop Tarts we know today, expect they had the peanut butter and jelly filling! They were soooooooo good!
Peanut Chews
A small individually wrapped Penny candy. Consisting of peanut, caramel and dark chocolate.
Pepitos
Tortilla chips loaded with jalapeno flavored seasoning. I don't know if they were their own company or if FritoLay owned them but they were my favorite - hot & spicy!
Pepperidge Farm Brownies
They came in a package, simular to the ones today, paper with foil that the cookies come in. I think they were the 80s' maybe the 70's, but I am almost positive they were the 80s. They came in a package of like 6, and they were the BEST store bought brownies ever! I have never bought another brownie that is packaged mass marketed that tasted better. They were wonderful if they were heated up in the Micro. I think they were only available for 1-3 years. I have not seen these in eons....
Pepsi AM
It was supposed to be the cola you drink in the morning. Being a Pepsi officianado, I never saw the point as the regular Pepsi works just fine for me.
Pepsi Free
This was the equivalent of Caffeine-Free Pepsi of today, but it tasted alot like Pepsi One does now.
Pepsi-Light
Was Pepsi with a lemon flavor. The bottle was a light blue shade and had a lemon on it.
Peter Pan Peanutbutter
I can hardly believe they stopped making this stuff. It was in a jar with a cartoon of Peter Pan on the cover.
Petro's
Chips, Chilli and Cheese. I remember it becoming popular at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN in 1982
Pickle Flavored Chips
Sometime during the 80's, we had a fad of pickle flavored chips. Actually tasted like pickles, but who wanted pickle flavored chips?
Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Frosting
I think this came out in the late 80s--it was chocolate or vanilla frosting with little candy bits in it. There was Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix to go with it.
Pine Brothers Cough Drops
Pine Brothers cough drops were available maybe in the the late seventies, but definetely in the 80's. Back then they were just about in between "gummi" and hard candy. Nowadays if you find them, they are not as chewy. They came in little card board boxes with a wax like bag in side that held the candy. They came in Cherry and Honey flavors. The logo had a spoon pouring syrup in to the candy's actual shape.
Pink Panther Bubble Gum
They were pink bubble gum pieces shaped like the Pink Panther's paw. THey cam in a little bag of about 20 pieces. They tasted like those Garfield lollipops.
Pinwheel Cookies
Remember them around 1983 or 1984. Vanilla and chocolate shortbread type cookie cookie with the chocolate shortbread swirled around in a pinwheel design. Nabisco product? Very good, but disappeared from shelves within a few years.
Pixi Sticks
Sugar candy in a straw, predate the 80s.
Pizazz Pizza
A newcomer to the food lineup of Taco Bell, now it's resurrected and called Mexican Pizza.
Pizza Bar
Brought to us by the makers of the Chicko Roll and Corn Jacks, the Pizza Bar had the same crunchy outer but with a cheesy tomato filling. It may have just been an Aussie thing!
Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza
Small semi-deep dish pizzas, made to order at Pizza Hut restaurants and in large quantities at airports, college cafeterias and the like. Usually in cheese, pepperoni and supreme.
Pizza Hut's PRIAZZO
A really DELSIH Italian maindish pastry from 1985 with a top and bottom crust filled with good things (sauce, lotsa cheese, and various add-ins including VEGGIES!) Truly -- a DELICACY!!!! I loved the spinach one!!!
Pizza Puff Chips
My best friend and I used to eat these bagS at a time. We can not remember who made them, however, we think it may be wise (with the owl). They were these half moon shaped puff chips, and they were pizza flavored. I believe the bag was green with a see through window. What I wouldn't do for another bag of thoes chips!!
Pizza Quick Sauce
A pizza sauce in a jar that could turn any kind of bread into a pizza! I remember putting it on french bread, regular bread, english muffins, etc. I think it was made by Ragu. I remember the jingle went "Open a jar, of Pizza Quick sauce, and open your own Pizzaria!"
Pizzaria's
Dorito rip-offs that tasted like pizza. They had a couple different flavors named after different pizza toppings
Pocket Fruit
1/4 cm thick piece of a type of "fruit roll-up" that came in packaging with a denim jean pocket on the front. Not made by the same company as fruit roll ups, though. They were usually found in the Produce Dept. of any grocery store.
Pogen's Ginger Snap Cookies
They were animal shaped gingery-flavored cookies. They were the perfect ginger snap because they weren't too spicy and just sweet enough. I remember them being in a bag with a logo of a Swedish woman holding a flower or a basket. So many of my friends remember them too.
Polly-O String Cheese
Popular in the late 80's, string cheese snacks. Came in a few different flavors including cheddar and my favorite pepperoni!! The commercial featured Polly-O the Parret. Might still be around today but I haven't seen them!
Pop Quiz Popcorn
It was microwave popcorn but you had to guess with color is would come out to be red,purple,yellow, green, blue. I think it came out like 88 or 89!
Pop Rocks
These started out in the 70s, and were around in the early 80s until false rumours about drinking soda and chugging Pop Rocks would make your head explode started to circulate. They can be still be found in some stores though.
Pop Secret Pop Chips
Found with the chips, it was a light butter corn chip, so addicted to those I could eat the whole box.
Pop Secret Popcorn
You never knew what color it would come out, but after you put it in the microwave it would be blue, green, or pink!
Pop Shoppe
Pop Shoppe Soda (sold in glass 300ml bottles with red and white stripes) was sold throughout the US and Canada. Flavors included Lemon Lime, Cola, Cream Soda, Rootbeer, Grape, Grapefruit, Black Cherry, Sparkle Up (i.e. Sprite, 7UP), Festival Dry (Ginger Ale), Black Berry. Lime Rickey and Cherry Cola. They were delious perfect sized bottles. Pop Shoppe was forced out by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola when big department stores would get huge discounts by purchasing large lots of product (mostly inexpensive cans), dropping prices below the prices of Pop Shoppe (the deposit on the bottles added as much as $.30 per bottle, which would be refunded of course, but this hurt them).
Popeye Cigarettes
Little pack of gum cigarettes that were pink with a red tip, Plus each one was wrapped in a paper roll, and sprinkled with powdered sugar, to give you that smoking a cigarette realism. When you blew on the paper the powdered sugar would puff out, and voila! 2nd hand sugar! Had popeye on the front of the box. Not sure why this was a good idea for kids, but I loved them at the time!
Popeye Sugar Puffs Cereal
Crisp cereal corn puffs coated with sugar(like Super Golden Crisp)with Popeye smiling on the 1 1/2 pound bag.
Popeye the Sailorman bubble gum
The gum was just like Big League Chew except it was green and it had Popeye on the front. It was green because spinach is green.
Pow-wow
Like cheetos but had an indian girl on it with her hair in 2 braided piggy tails. My grandpa seemed to have a never ending supply we loved to go over there and eat our pow wows and was it RC cola that we drank?
Powdered Donuts cereal
This cereal was basically like Cheerio's, but it was covered in powdered sugar. The TV commercial featured a cartoon with talking powdered donuts.
Powerhouse Candy Bars
I think it was chocolate with caramel.
Pudding Pops
Pudding on a stick in chocolat, vanilla, or swirled. Quite possibly the most missed food of the 1980's!!!
Pudding Roll-Ups
Similar to fruit roll-ups. Had three kids in the commercial dressed like PIs, and the slogan was "Pudding in Disguise." They came in Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge, and I think one other flavor. There are no doubt some still congealing on a shelf in Big Lots stores all over the USA!
Puff-O-Fruit
It was a pastery of sorts with a jelly center. They don't make this stuff anymore and it's a shame.
Punch Crunch
A spin off of Captain Crunch, Punch Crunch looked alot like Captain Crunch's Oops All Berries, with loads of pink crunchberries and little else. A hippo in a sailor suit was on the cover.
Punky's
Willy Wonka candies that were oval shaped and had a bumpy texture.
Purple Passion
Malt drink grape flavored. Came in 2L bottles.
Purplesaurus Rex Kool-Aid
Grape and Lemonade Kool-Aid from the 80s. The packet was purple with a purple dinosaur that would most certainly be able to whomp on Barney. Alas, they don't make it anymore, so you now have to buy a grape and lemonade packet in order to make the Purplesaurus Rex goodness today.
Push Pops
Basically a lollipop that looked like a tube of lipstick. You pushed up the pop from the bottom of the tube.
Push-Ups
It was orange sherbert inside a cardboard tube. There was a little stick attached so you sould push it out of the cardboard. Always melted on your hands!


Food beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]
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