Food of the Eighties, Products Beginning with S

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]
SIXLETS
Early-Mid 80's: Sort of knock-off of M&M's. Different coloured candies with a milk chocolate center. The sloagan was simple and to the point: "When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last?"
STUFFERS
I am not sure exactly how popular this food item was or how long it was on the market. I recall buying and eating these snacks around 86' when I was a kid. Picture a combos cut in half only the outside was a puffy rice shell with different flavored fillings. French Onion was a favorite as I recall.
Saf'T'Pops
"Lollipops are dangerous! Kids can gag on the stick!", cried parents. So out came a lollipop with a looped stick for safer sucking.
Salty Plumbs
A nut covered in a salty sour taste. But very delicious and popular
Sarasoda
A tasty non-alcoholic beverage with 0.9% in it - drink enough quickly at the age of 12 and you might get a buzz - whether is was from being bloated and high on sugar or the alcohol - it didn't matter. Might have only been in Canada.
Screaming Yellow Zonkers
Caramel corn that came in clusters.
Screwball
A plastic cone filled with vanilla ice-cream. At the bottom there was a different colored gumball. Blue was always the best...When the ice cream started to melt the blue dye ran through it.mmmmmmm..........
Seagram's Spiced Whiskey Coolers
Best wine cooler ever. Absolutely delicious. Can't believe they stopped making them.
Secret bars
I was only about three when I had these and I wish I could have one now. I think they were from the 80's. They were in a green/gold wrapper with a little white tray made from cardboard, it was chocolate in a long circular shape with a truffley centre, ( I think ). All I know was they were delicious!!!
Seven Up Gold
Seven up with a slight ginger ale/cola flavor. I liked it
Seven-Up Candy Bar
The Seven-Up was a chocolate bar with 7 sections with different centers (like candy-box-style chocolate). I remember flavors like butter cream, caramel, coconut, etc. My favorite!
Shake-Ups
Really thick milkshake; came in a little milk carton..they were soooo good.
Shake-a-Puddin'
You added milk (I believe) to the box, shook it up, and made a shake-a-puddin' (pudding) Can't remember who made these things...
Sharkleberry Fin Kool Aid
BEST. FLAVOR. EVER. Pink Kool-Aid that tasted like cherry/watermelon-esque? I bought a TON of packets when I heard they were going to stop making it. WIsh they'd bring it back.
Shasta Soda
Soda - the commercial had sexy women with glossy lipstick all ooo-ooo puckery singing this: "I want a thrill, I want a wow, I want it all, I want it NOW. I want a POP (pop pop), I want a Shhhhhhh-AS-ta." Remember?
Sioux City Sarsaparilla
These old-fashioned bottles of non-alcoholic beer are still sold today...also come as Birch Beer and Ginger beer.
Sip 'N Snack
These were great! Made by Motts (I think), these were a packaged collection that contained both a boxed fruit drink and a boxed snack item (like animal crackers, cookies, etc). They both had matching yellow boxes, affixed together. The television commercial used a catchy jingle that went: "sip 'n snack, it's something you eat. It's something you eat and something you drink..."
Sip-Ups
These milk drinks came in chocolate and strawberry flavors, I remember. A blueberry "smurf" flavor may have been added at some point. The container was cardboard and rectangular shaped. I haven't seen these since some point in the mid-80's. I miss these.
Sir Chomps Alot
It came in a can probably chef boyardee it had little alligator shaped pasta and crown shapes.The commercials had a alligator type cartoon character sitting on a throne wearing a crown.I remember this because my little brother wanted to eat it for lunch everyday in the summer.It tasted like really bad spagetti o's
SizzleLean
It was bacon but it was supposed to be less fattening...the commercial went "Move over bacon. Now there's something leaner!"
Skinny Dippers
The snack food of choice consisted of cookie stiks in a cup with chocolate frosting in a container next to it.
Skittles
I'm surprised no one has mentioned these yet- I think they came out in the 80's. I was in 4th grade (1985) when I first saw the commercial- I remember one girl had them in her lunch bag one day- we were all begging her to give us ONE PIECE! The strawberry flavor was hands down the most popular flavor at school (good for trading!) I think they still use the same slogan in the commercials "taste the rainbow". Yum!
Skor Bar
Similar to a Heath bar,but one piece instead of 2 small chocolate covered toffee.My old favorite!
Skulls
These were little white soft candy "skulls" that oozed red cherry-flavour goo when you bit into them. Gross but good!
Slice Sodas
Slice gained popularity because they included fruit juice (10%) with normal soda. Flavors included lemon-lime, cherry cola, orange, and several others.
Slim Jim
A spicy meat snack made with beef, pork and poultry by-products.
Slime Slurps
Slime Slurps... Delicious little gelatin-like gummi candies placed in a molded piece of plastic with an easy to peel-off saran-wrap type "lid" - 6 in a package (ie: spiders or other bugs), which you would peel out of the mold and slurp... Hence the name.. Slime-Slurps? Remember these?
Slush Puppy
Popular in the early 80's. Fruit flavoured, crushed ice drinks, loads of colouring agents.
Slush Puppy Gum
It came in a package you had to rip open and the pieces of gum were in the shape of a puppy's paw print. It came in different flavors like cherry, grape, orange, etc. It tasted pretty good, but the flavor ran out too quick.
Slushers
These were fruit flavore syrup in a small plastic tub thatyou would put in the freezer over-nite and when you got up the next morning you would stir it up with your spoon to make it slushy. The only two flavors that i can remember were grape and cherry. They were awsome!!
Smiley Face French Fries
They were round french fried potatoes and the eyes and smile were cut out....they were just like dinosaur french fries...the best french fries I've ever had!!!
Smores
They we smores that were already made, and were in packs. You microwaved them to melt the chocolate and marshmellow.
Smurf Marshmellows
Blue Marshmellows
Smurf Pasta
Canned pasta...similar to spaghetti-o's. Remember the commercial? "Papa Smurf...Gargamel's stolen all of our food!" So Papa Smurf whipped up this magical treat and shared it with the world...thanks for nothing, Papa Smurf. I remember it came in three different varieties...I think they were plain, w/meatballs, and w/cheese.
Smurfberry Crunch
This was hands down the BEST cereal I have ever eaten. Blue and pink round pieces... you could eat them out of the box and it was like eating candy! I'm so sorry it doesn't exist anymore.
Snack Pack Pudding
Snack Pack Pudding came in a flip-top can, was not refrigerated. Best tasting chocolate pudding I've EVER had.
Snack Tray Pizzas
These were tiny little pizzas that came in a toaster oven tray, with about 12-18 of those minature pizzas. They were three different types of pizzas in each box, plain cheese, pepperoni&cheese, and sausage&cheese.
Snackin' Cake
It was a moist bready cake you would bake. The box showed the "cake" cut up in a perfect square.
Snapple
Snapple, the bottled juice drinks of the 90s, was created in the 80s!
Snow Balls
A Hostess-type cake snack..... Half-dome shaped. Creme-filled chocolate cake covered in a layer of marshmellow, then covered in bright pink coconut. Very good. There was also a version that resembled baseballs that came out later. The fun part of it was that you could peel off the marshmellow/coconut layer and eat it separately.
Snowcaps
Chocolate small round shaped candy with white flaky frosting on top in a white rectangular box
Snyder's of Hanover Potato Chips
This Pennsylvania company also made pretzels, but it was the bizarre flavors of chips such as grilled steak, barbeque chicken, and honey mustard that distinguished it's snacks from the bigger companies.
Soap Candies
I know these tiny, soapy tasting, stick to your teeth, chewy candies were a real hit amongst the kids when I was in 5th/6th grade. One of the only places that they could be found was the "candy hut" at Sears. I haven't seen them at all in years. As silly as it seems now, we really enjoyed trying to figure out what kind of "soap" made each colorful little morsel.
Sodalicious gummies
Soda flavored gummy's that were shapped like soda pop, Rootbeer, Coke, and orange
Soft Swirl
It was ice cream in a cone shaped package, with a plastic top that you squeezed the ice cream through to resemble- you guessed it- soft-serve type ice cream. The commercial jingle went "New Soft Swirl, it's like a soft ice cream machine."
Soft-Baked Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies that were packaged, but remained soft and chewy
Soup Starter
Basically freeze dried soup ingrediants-just had to add water. Came in a tall canister.
Sour Patch Kids
These are still available, but I believe they came out in the 80's. I used to get them for a penny a piece at the corner store.
Sour Power
Sour Power was a long red chewy candy (similar to Twizzlers) and it had a sugary coating that was also sour. They didn't come in packaging because they were kept in a plastic container on the store's counter, and they were sold by the quantity. They were around in 1988 and I'm not sure if they are still being sold.
Sour cream and onion Doritos
Tasted kind of like the cool ranch ones of today,but were much better. They came in a green bag and were awesome.
Soy Burgers
I don't THINK these came out before the 80s, though I might be wrong. I seem to remember them becoming big during the vegetarian craze that sweep the nation during the mid 80s
Space Burger
All non-chain burger stores in Scandinavia introduced the Space Burger in the early 80's. Consisted of a circular slice of pineapple on top of a well-stuffed and mayo-dressing-soaked quarterpounder. Tasted pretty weird, but as kids we loved that. This was HUGE over here
Space Dust
Space Dust: It was a sort of sugary citrus powder which came inside of plastic rocket ships. There were a couple of different flavors, and a lot of different containers...maybe even some asteroids.
Space Food Sticks
Shaped liked Kit-Kats, but kind of a prehistoric power bar. Had a nice chemical taste (not bad really) that made it seem space-age.
Space Ice Cream
These were bought usually at musuems in the gift shop. It was a tri-colored piece of dry milk. It had three flavor strips, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. It was kind of nasty, didn't taste like ice cream at all, but a must have.
Spaghetti O's
Came in a can like spaghetti, but cheesy. Round little noodles. Only the best!
Spaghetti-O's And Franks
I don't know if they still make them but I haven't seen them in ages. They were Spaghetti-O's with little hot dogs in it. It tasted really yucky, though!
Spirals
Spiral shaped Fritos, they were nacho-cheese flavored. I remember these when I was in middle school.
Spree
White sweet and sour candy covered with a hard sugar shell. It came in rainbow colors.
Springwater Cookies
Lived a short life. Came out in early to mid 80's. Sold usually at the counter in a large jar. Light in color, was probably the best tasting chocolate chip cookie next to homemade.
Squeez Cheez
Came in a tube and you squeezed it onto crackers, etc. Like Cheez Whiz in a tube. I think there was a red tab on the top!
Squeez-It Gels
I think it was called that, but I might be wrong. It was basically a Squeez-it with Jell-o instead of juice. Quite a delicious treat.
Squeez-its
Plastic bottle filled with a kool-aid type drink that was squeezable and comical faces on the bottle.
Squirley Q's
Came in a red package. Plain cookie with a chocolate swirl in the middle. Not made anymore, believed to be made in the 80's
Ssips
One of the earlier punch box drinks that came out about '83 or so, shortly after Capri Sun. Had an animated commercial with some dancing, singing lips.
Star Wars cookies
These cookies, made by Pepperidge Farm, came out in 1983 with Return of the Jedi. They came in chocolate or vanilla and were in the shape of different characters - soooo good after a day at the beach.
StarBar
It was the '80s version of the Nutrageous candy bar: peanut butter and caramel on the inside with the chocolate outside. The commercials had people in stressful and timely situations, and once they started eating this candy bar, they became mellow. For example, one had a race car driver making a pit stop during a race who starts eating this candy bar. Everyone is rushing to get his tires changed etc. and the guy just sits there calmly eating his StarBar while everyone is screaming for him to go.
Starburst Fruit Gems
Soft sugary candy with different flavors by starburst
Steak-Ums
They were flat pieces of frozen meat that came in a box with a piece of paper between each one. You cooked 'em in a skillett and ate them on a bun or bread.
Sticklets Gum
A gimmick gum that came out sometime around '88. It's big sales pitch was that of economy. Wherein a typical (at that time) Wrigley's pack carried 7 sticks, The Sticklets pack carried nine slender sticks. Both packs were the same size, yet the Sticklets packs had the gum "cut" parallel to the shorter side of the pack so as to make 9 sticks instead of 7.
Strawberry Filled Twinkies
A regular Twinkie, but inside, instead of cream filling, it had a strawberry filling.
Strawberry Shortcake Cereal
Strawberry shortcake cereal was a cereal that was in effect after the creation of the strawberry shortcake dolls. The cereal box had a picture of strawberry shortcake on it, and the cereal itself looked like Kix!!!.
Strawberry filled Twinkies
I remember these!! no one else ever does, I wish they would bring em back
String Cheese
Another product which may have originated earlier(I'm not sure), but that I know had a surge in the 80s.
Stroehmann Fudge Brownie
I remember this brownie because it was the best brownie I've ever had! The brownie was always moist and the chocolate was so good with only a few nuts on top of the chocolate just like I like it.
Stuffer's Nacho cheese crackers
Awesome crackers shaped like miniature hot dogs with nacho cheese filling inside. Couple of different types, nacho, jalapeno & salsa. Best crackers ever!!
Stuffers
A tasty snack that had various toppings in a half shell crisped rice base. I recall sour cream and onion were a personal favorite. I do not recall the year which they came out, but I do remember purchasing this product around 1986.
Sugar Daddies
It was caramel on a stick...real buttery & sweet tasting. Came in a yellow wrapper with red lettering. Can still be found in some small local candy stores.
Sugar Mama
Was the same as a sugar daddy, except it was covered in chocolate. On a stick, just like the daddy.
Summit
summit was a candy bar,kind of reminds me of a twix.
Summit Candy Bar
It was similiar to the layout of TWIX by having two skinny bars in the silver wrapping paper. It really wafery and tasted great.
Sun Toasted Wheats
Made by Keebler company; octagonal-shaped small wheat crackers topped with seseame seeds. Sweet, yet salty taste. Came in a yellow box.
Suncheros
Being a "Child of the 80s", I can't help myself ... Suncheros by Keebler. They were like Doritos, and came in Dorito-type flavors (Nacho Cheese, Pepperoni Pizza, etc), and I distinctly remember the jingle: "Suncheros ... Suncheros light-n-crispy, cuz they're made my poquenos Keeb-le-rooos."
Sundance
Sundance was a non-alcoholic beverage that I haven't seen since 1989 or shortly afterward. It was packaged in glass bottles. After searching to purchase some online, I found an article that said it was manufactured by Stroh Brewery Company in the '80's, but now by another company.
Sundance Sparkling Fruit Juice
A sparkling (carbonated) fruit juice in (what I remember to be) combined flavors. Similar to Clearly Canadian in taste, but were colored to suit the type of "juice" used in the drink.
Sunkist Candies
Fruit candies came in Orange, Lemon, Cherry and Lime. They were rond candy gels covered with sugar crystals. They came individualy wrapped in a clear plastic wrapper.
Sunshine Punch Kool-Aid
This was an orangy tang sort of flavor and it came out around 1983 or 1984. It was my all time favorite!!!
Super Sips
These 8-oz plastic juice bottles were filled with the highest concentration of sugar I think I've ever ingested. They were sold in the produce section of grocery stores in fun and colourful flavors including lime, orange, and cherry. Perfect drink for pounding after soccer practice.
Super Socco
An orange drink, very tangy, and very gross IMHO. Commercials always featured kids playing soccer, hence the name "socco" I guess. It came in juice boxes(tetra pacs), don't remember what the boxes looked like exactly, but they had a soccer ball on them...
Superman peanut butter
I remember having this stuff around 1980. Before that Skippy was the brand of choice in our house. Superman was a little bit sweeter and therefore replaced Skippy in our house, until they stopped making the Superman PB. It had a black label with the comic book Superman cartoon on it, and the Superman logo. I loved that stuff!
Supree Diet Drink Mix With Calcium
This "Crystal Light" type drink with calcium was test-marketed in the Sacramento area in 1984: "Give your thirsty bones the drink they need! Help keep your body beautiful! New Supree-eee-eeee! It's Calorie free! Give your thirsty bones they drink they need...Help keep your body beautiful...New Supree-eee-eeee!" Cheesy Flop!
Sushi
Of course it had been around long before the 80's, but it became a mainstay in the US in the 80's (note it was specifically mentioned in the movie "Valley Girl".
Susie Q's
Almost exactly like a Devil Dog, been around forever.
SweeTarts
The beginning of the sour candies, this was much sweeter than the sour candies out now. They were chewy,sour, and fruity at the same time and came in the regular half-inch size, and the big one-and-a-half-inch size.
Sweet Nothings
It was a lifesaver type candy that was apparently sugar free. It came in a lifesavers type package and was full of fruit flavors. Hands down the best sugar free candy of all time.
Sweethearts
They were probably almost the size of a nickel. Came in a clear wrapped roll that twisted on the end. Of course they were circular and each had a heart in the middle with a sweet saying. The candy was sweet with a tangy fizzling taste.
Swiss Miss Chocolate Pudding
I absolutely believe that Swiss Miss Chocolate pudding is the best premade pudding ever. I like other flavors too,(vanilla, tapioca, butterscotch, etc.) but the chocolate was special!! Oh and the little swiss girl, I used to want to look like her.
Symphony Chocolate bars
Smooth milk chocolate w/ almond bits and pieces of chipped toffee. The "sophisticated candy bar." Those were so good, but I don't see them in stores anymore.


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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