Discontinued Cheez-It Flavors You'll Never Eat Again - Mashed (2024)

Facts

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ByKelly Robinson/April 8, 2023 9:30 am EST

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When the Green & Green company introduced America to the Cheez-It in 1921, no one could have imagined that the "crackin' good combination of crackers and cheese" (as touted on the original packaging) would still be around more than one hundred years later. In the ensuing century, the company changed hands several times, from Biscuit Company to Keebler to Kellogg. The logos and packaging have differed over the years, but the classic cracker itself has stayed largely the same.

While the original Cheez-It you munch on may be the exact same flavor as the Cheez-It of decades past, other flavors have come and gone. Over the decades, the snack cracker has seen many dozens of spin-off products, experimenting with shapes, sizes, and add-ins—but most importantly, Cheez-It flavors. As new product flavors are developed, some of the others quietly disappear, and before you know it, the taste you crave most is no longer on the grocery store shelves.

Here are some of the Cheez-It flavors that are long gone, leaving a square-shaped hole in our hearts.

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Cheez-It managed to exist as a single product for eight decades, but in 1986, a sidekick was born. Reporters at the 49th annual Retail Grocers Association trade show noticed that low-salt and low-fat versions of products like Cheez-It were moving into the market to appeal to "health-conscious yuppies." The link between high blood pressure and sodium was still a fairly new idea, based on a study from the 1970s. In 1977, the U.S. Senate released guidelines for the first time recommending that Americans reduce their salt intake.

The reduced-sodium option followed on the heels of cracker competitor Ritz, which had already released a low-salt cracker in 1985. Cheez-It Low Salt contained less sodium than compared to the regular variety, and they stayed on the market into the 1990s, only disappearing after the Keebler takeover. The low-salt Cheez-It may not have been the most delicious cheese snack ever made, but those on low-sodium diets would surely rather have a low-salt Cheez-It than no Cheez-It at all.

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The first true flavored Cheez-It option debuted in the early 1990s with Cheez-It White Cheddar, which is still part of the product line-up. By the mid-1990s, though, things were hopping in the cracker laboratories as Cheez-It experimentation started to explode. The new owners at Keebler seemed anxious to make up for all the wasted single-flavor decades. A journalist for the Star Tribune registered his amazement in 1997 that the new nacho flavor brought the Cheez-It total to nine varieties. (Today Cheez-It has 31 flavors to choose from.)

Keebler pulled out all the stops to promote the nacho flavor, using all the expected puns ("Nacho ordinary party," "Nacho basic cracker," "Nacho ..." —you get the idea). Splashy ads encouraged consumers to throw a Cheez-It Nacho party and send in their wackiest party video. Keep in mind that "nacho" as a flavor was still very much a cool, new-ish thing (even Doritos had only been using it since 1974). The reason for the flavor's demise is not recorded, but a syndicated review noted that "Crackers aren't nachos."

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Sharp-eyed snackers are well aware that several of the product's variations seem like blatant attempts to corner the snack market in places that a Cheez-It shouldn't dare tread. The Cheez-It foray into the flavored popcorn market appeared to be unabashedly Smart Food-inspired. Cheez-It Sandwich Crackers encroached on Lance and Nabisco territory. Innovation has its dark side, though, and some of the more competitive merchandise has resulted in some seriously mutant munchstrosities. (Cheez-It spray cheese in a can, anyone?)

A case in point: Cheez-It Fiestas, a bold and ill-fated attempt to make the Cheez-It more like a Dorito. In 2005, the cheese cracker product (now owned by Kellogg) evolved into something vaguely reminiscent of a tortilla chip. The new Cheeze-It Fiesta was triangle-shaped, because squares aren't south-of-the-border enough, and they were dusted with corn masa for a hint of something vaguely corn chip-adjacent. The taco-seasoning flavor profile wasn't enough to trick people into putting down their Doritos, however, and both the Cheddar Nacho and Cheesy Taco Fiesta flavors quietly vanished.

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Cheez-It was a latecomer to the pizza-flavored snack game. The trend peaked in the early 1990s with Keebler Pizzarias, reported at the time to be the most successful product launch in Keebler history. Pizzarias were advertised in a style true to their era, with teen versions of the Keebler Elves slinging slogans like "Radical grub!" Millennials will recall the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Snack Crackers from the same time period, in a turtle-approved pizza flavor (and not to be confused with the TMNT pizza-flavored Crunchabungas, released the same year).

The Cheese Pizza Cheez-Its appeared in 2017 as part of a tailgating promotion, alongside two other Game Day junk food flavors, Cheddar Nachos and Cheeseburger. Fans were encouraged to vote for a favorite among the limited edition flavors, with the winning variety getting a permanent place on the roster. Cheese Pizza won the vote, eliminating the other two competitors, but ultimately, Cheez-It sent it back to the bench in 2023.

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The Cheez-It gurus have tried out many kinds of snack mixes over the years, and currently keep two on the roster, Cheez-It Snack Mix and Cheez-It Snack Mix Double Cheese. One of the most exciting varieties was Get Nutty! Snack Mix, and you know a product means business when there's an exclamation mark in the name. The snack mix included both roasted peanuts and almonds, plus sesame sticks, pretzels, cheese sticks, and crackers.

The addition of not just one but two kinds of nuts is what makes the Get Nutty! Snack Mix such an anomaly these days. None of Cheez-Its current flavors include nuts, whether due to cost efficiency or the banning of nuts from some schools and venues. The nuts in this case were of the sugary, glazed type, so reviews often praised the sweet and salty contrast. On the other hand, there were the typical complaints about nut-centric snack: not enough nuts, and they frustratingly sink to the bottom. A syndicated columnist said that if the name is supposed to reflect the main ingredients, "it should have been called Get Pretzely!"

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Cheez-It Duoz are still kicking around, combining two separate flavors of Cheez-Its in one box, for what the company calls "a mashup of exciting flavors and textures." Part of the Duoz appeal is that they also have visual appeal. With two different types of crackers packaged together, dumping them in a bowl for a party makes it look like you did twice the work.

Twisterz were a bit bolder than Duoz, combining two flavors in each individual piece. The product came in a twisty shape, like a short, crunchy, cheese Twizzler, with two contrasting strands of flavor wrapped together. Hot Wings & Cheesy Blue Twisterz combined a hot and spicy strand with a savory blue-cheesey strand. Cheez-It connoisseurs noted the absence of any kind of chicken flavor. The resulting taste emphasized the "hot," but forgot to include the "wings" part. Nonetheless, the combo was a fan favorite, and its demise is often lamented on internet forums.

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Just as the Cheez-It Puf'd products seem like an attempt to make something Cheeto-adjacent, the Cheez-It Snap'd line seems like an attempt to make the popular cracker into a chip. Snap'd crackers are thinner, larger, and crisper than regular Cheez-It. The product website quotes a customer review that says, "These were dusted with enough cheese flavor and were crispy enough that it felt like a chip." Cheez-It clearly wants to make consumers think "chips" when they think of Snap'd.

That's what makes it so surprising that Cheez-It has removed Snap'd Barbecue from its product line. According to consumer surveys, barbecue is the most popular flavor of chip in America, with sour cream and onion in second place. (Unfortunately for Cheez-It, cheese flavor lags behind in fifth place). If the company really wants to capture the chip market, a barbecue-flavored Snap'd seems essential. Unless it makes a comeback, barbecue lovers will just have to be content with dipping their Cheez-Its in barbecue sauce.

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Brand collaborations are all the rage these days, for better or worse. Sometimes the mash-ups are brilliant, like the decadent Twix donuts from Krispy Kreme, but other times they are downright bizarre, like the time Dunkin' released a donut-themed makeup collection with e.l.f. cosmetics. The Cheez-It folks are no strangers themselves to weird collabs, having once unleashed the Taco Bell Big Cheez-It Tostada and the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap on the world.

A much smarter collaboration was made with the Tabasco company, the zingy hot flavor of Tabasco was a clever companion for the cheddar taste of Cheez-It. For unknown reasons, Cheez-It ceased its contract with Tabasco, but kept the Hot & Spicy brand around. The words "with Tabasco sauce" disappeared from the name, and the iconic Tabasco bottle on the box became a generic hot sauce bottle. Customers weren't fooled by the substitution, and many fans report that both the flavor and the consistency have changed.

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The iconic flavor duo of Parmesan cheese and savory garlic should have been a hit. The combination works well on garlic bread, pasta, and pizza crust. Garlic alone seems like a perfect addition to the cheese-flavored Cheez-It, as the flavor works so well with cheese that some dairies even sell garlic-flavored cheese. So, what happened to the Parmesan & Garlic Cheez-It? Unfortunately, though brands alert the press when they have new products to tout, there's not typically an announcement when a variety is discontinued. We're left guessing.

A clue to the disappearance of the Parmesan & Garlic Cheez-It may lie in a review from the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2003, under the title "But Which Cheez Is-It?" The Mr. Tidbit column noted that "the predominant flavor component in Parmesan & Garlic Cheez-Its is Cheddar cheese." Perhaps the flavor's failure was due to the fact that the Parmesan component was not as flavorful as it could have been.

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The flavor of smoke has been a sensation since cavemen first invented fire. For some reason, certain foods just taste better cooked over smoldering wood — especially things like bacon and chicken wings. The phenomenon is not just related to meat, though. People have been known to smoke anything from mashed potatoes to whiskey in an effort to achieve the sweet, pungent taste of hickory wood. The popularity of smoked cheeses like cheddar, Gouda, and Mozzarella make the idea of a cheesy, smoky Cheez-It a no-brainer.

The presence of "real hickory smoke flavor" advertised on the box made Smokey Provolone stand out from the avalanche of single white cheese flavors Cheez-It has released over the years (Provolone, Mozzarella, Baby Swiss, etc.), but perhaps the misspelling of "smoky" was an omen of things to come. The flavor is no longer on the Cheez-It roster, and its sister flavors — Cheez-It Smoked Cheddar and Snap'd Smoked Bacon and Cheddar — are also no more. Fans of the flavor can take solace in making their own, as recipes for smoking your own Cheez-Its abound on the internet, using a real smoker.

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Chili and cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, there's only one thing that beats cheese piled on top of chili, and that's cheese and chili piled on top of something else (like French fries, nachos, hot dogs, or Extreme Tots from Sonic). A chili-flavored Cheez-It makes more sense than some of the other flavor choices retained in the product line. Do Buffalo wings really go with cheddar cheese? Maybe. But doesn't chili sound like a better partner?

After being discontinued, Cheez-It Chili Cheese is one of the most-missed flavors of all time, as evidenced by pleas on Twitter and Reddit for Cheez-It to bring back the combo. Many of the fans cite Chili Cheese as a favorite snack of their childhood (one Twitter user said he was "crushed" when they stopped making the flavor.) Alas, those who still wish for a chili and cheese-flavored snack will have to make do with Fritos.

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After Sriracha fever hit the United States around the 1990s, a wave of sriracha-themed products hit the market in the ensuing decades. Nearly every popular snack brand has jumped on the Sriracha bandwagon at some point, with flavored products from Lay's, Doritos, Combos, and Chex Mix, just for starters. In 2016, Cheez-It described its new Sriracha Snack Mix on Facebook as "a meticulously well-organized mix of all things spicy." Public reaction was largely positive, with one Amazon reviewer saying the flavor is so magical, that it tastes like the makers "captured a unicorn, extracted its tears, and poured them on each magical box."

The spicy/garlicky/sweet flavor of Sriracha sauce hits multiple taste buds at once, so it's no wonder that Cheez-It fans were upset when the snack mix was discontinued. They were likely even more upset when the company responded to their complaints by telling them to try Cheez-It Hot & Spicy. It's a bit like "Let them eat cake." For starters, Cheez-It Hot & Spicy is not a snack mix, and as mentioned above, the lack of Tabasco brand hot sauce has caused some consumers to reject the new version.

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The mouth-searing Atomic Cheez-It flavor inspired some excited-sounding advertising copy. "Feed the fire for snackin' heat," read the press information, which continued, "Made with whole grain! It will blaze a smoldering smile across each satisfied face AND satisfy USDA School Meal Guidelines." Though smoldering smiles don't sound like something you'd want to see on the school playground, the 9 grams of whole wheat per serving allowed the snack to be approved for vending at schools and events that only allow healthy snacks.

Enterprising folks have figured out how to make a homemade Atomic Cheez-It. Variations abound, but the basic recipe is to fill a sturdy plastic bag with original Cheez-It crackers, add paprika, chili powder, ranch mix, garlic salt, and vegetable oil, and then shake it all up until the crackers are well coated. (Whether or not it makes your smile smolder may depend on how much chili powder you add.)

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For certain types of snackers, the combination of sweet and salty flavors is unbeatable. The seemingly-contrasting tastes work well together in treats like chocolate-covered pretzels and salted caramel popcorn. It's a trend that's seen a big upsurge in recent decades, with salted chocolate bars on grocery shelves and toppings like candied bacon popping up on restaurant menus. A collaboration between Cheez-It and M&M's candies seems heaven-sent to lovers of all things sweet and salty.

Even the most die-hard fans might balk, though, when they stop to consider what made up the Cheez-It Sweet & Salty Mix with M&M's. Sweet and salty sounds good on paper, but to be specific, the snack mix combined the flavors of cheese and chocolate. Maybe chocolate-covered candy and cheddar cheese are a little too disparate, even in these times of crazy product mashups. Cheez-It must have thought so too, and discontinued the flavor in 2021.

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Creative flavor combinations aside, keeping up with the single-cheese flavors Cheez-It has adopted over the years can be a difficult task. After the original cheddar in 1921, Cheez-It cheese-specific variations have included White Cheddar, Asiago, Mozzarella, Romano, Pepper Jack, Baby Swiss, and several more. The difference in flavor profiles of some of the cheese varieties wasn't greatly distinct (how many consumers, for example, could tell Romano from Asiago in a taste test?), making some of the products appear redundant.

In 2012, Cheez-It conducted an election in the form of a contest, asking voters to choose "America's Top Cheese." Citing the need to bring people together in "a divisive time," Cheez-It let voters choose between eight flavors, seven of them single-cheese flavors, and for unknown reasons, Hot & Spicy. The cheeses each had individual platforms and campaign slogans. The winner was Colby ("The People's Cheese"), which ran on the platform of letting "milder heads prevail" on "tough issues." Despite the flavor's vote-getting popularity, it was discontinued in 2018. (So much for letting the people's voice be heard.)