5 Food Trends That Lived And Died This Decade

There are some

food

trends

that took the world by storm in the 2010s only to quickly fade into oblivion, from cake on a stick... Taryn Varricchio: Yes, I love Starbucks cake pops! Narrator: To a bender in a can... Shayanne Gal: Little did we know how destructive that could be. Narrator: We're taking a look back at

food

trends

gone by. Anne Murray: The rainbow and unicorn trend is just essentially adding a bunch of different

food

colorings. It remains to be seen what the health effects of

that are. Herrine Ro: It's, like, one of those

food

s that are super fun to look at, but, like, when you eat it, you're like, "Ah!" Alana Yzola: "I'm done." Melia Russell: I think the first time I saw a unicorn

food

was the Starbucks Frappuccino that went super viral. Narrator: We have seen unicorn

food

s paint the

food

-scene rainbow thanks to Miami

food

blogger Adeline Waugh, who, for better or worse, gave the world unicorn toast. Herrine: I feel like rainbow was

trying to fit that Instagram aesthetic but absolutely did nothing for the taste. Manuel Silva-Paulus: Like, magic? Is that the flavor? Narrator: The rainbow bagel sprang a small Brooklyn bagel shop into social-media infamy, and shops around the world tried to match its success by adding six shades of

food

dye to their

food

s in an attempt to harness patrons' desire to consume vibrant meals that would otherwise be some variant of brown. Anne: I don't need a rainbow in my bagel, and I

don't really need a rainbow in my cake. Taryn: People rode that high for way too long. Every single thing was rainbow because it could be. Alana: Then it started, like, peeping into savory

food

s, like the rainbow grilled cheese. Ah. Irene Kim: It was cute. People Instagrammed it. And it didn't taste good, so people stopped going. Narrator:

This

trend might not actually be dead yet, but we're hoping it's at least on hospice. Nico Reyes: Your

food

will taste the same, rainbow or

not. So it can die. Taryn: You

lived

your years, and it is time for you to die. And I'm glad you're gone. I'm sorry. Ben Nigh: RIP. Narrator: Even before Instagram was around to make photo-worthy

food

s viral, cake pops were making the rounds as the trendy dessert of birthday parties, weddings, and baby showers. Taryn: Yes, I love Starbucks cake pops! I love when they bring the snowman back. Frickin' cake pops, man. Medha Imam: A cake pop is goodness. It's love. It is a stick

that looks like a lollipop, but instead, there's cake in it. Emily Hein: I remember being very excited about them, because it's like a mini cake that is one serving and appropriate to eat on your own. Taryn: They're adorable, they're portable, and they have a not-too-thick layer of chocolate on top. Narrator: They were invented in 2008 by

food

blogger Bakerella, but they really came into the mainstream when Starbucks started selling them in 2011. From there, it seemed like cake

pops would be the next trend to spring out of specialty bakeries. But for one reason or another, fervor subsided, and Starbucks seemed to be the burial ground for the once thriving trend. Lisa Paradise: Cake pops took over the world for, like, four seconds. Taryn: You do go to Starbucks, and you do see the sad snowman sitting there, and I rarely see people get them. Emily: Starbucks is rooting for them. Ciannah Gin: Exactly. Somebody cares about the cake pop still. Taryn: I'm so sad about

it. I love cake pops. Narrator: In 2018, the treats once sold at fancy bakeries saw their biggest distribution come from the dessert aisle at supermarkets. Lisa: When's the last time you ate a cake pop? Medha: Like, three weeks ago. Lisa: You eat cake pops that often? Taryn: Cheers. Ben: Cheers! Yay. Yeah,

this

is actually really good. Taryn: It's, like, so moist and chewy. Lisa: I've never seen anyone look so satisfied when eating something so simple. So you think we should bring

back cake pops? Taryn: Bring 'em back. Bring 'em back right frickin' now. Medha: Dear cake pops, I'm sad to see you go, but I know that you will forever stay in my heart, because you were the one thing that made me happy after a long day of work. The end. Lisa:

This

is the most innocent thing I've ever seen happen. Medha: I'm so happy right now. Narrator: With the promise of health benefits and a space-gray natural coloring, charcoal became a

food

trend in 2016. It was

touted as a natural, supereffective detox, and people couldn't get enough. Tiffany Chang: The whole idea is that it's black and it's cool and it might maybe be healthy. Alana: I didn't know what to expect. I thought it looked bada--. But when I ate it, it didn't really taste like anything. Herrine: That's the thing. Alana: I didn't feel like I was healthier after having it. Tiffany: That's completely black. Alyse Kalish: I feel like I'm doing, like, a

fingerprint. Tastes like dirt, no? Tiffany: I enjoy the aesthetics of it. Alyse: Well, we might have to leave it in the next

decade

. The government will have no choice. Narrator: With a rising trend comes watchful eyes. And almost as soon as the

Food

and Drug Administration began to look into activated charcoal, it was linked to all kinds of gastrointestinal distress and was even said to lessen the effectiveness of medications like birth control. The

food

was banned, and the New York Department

of Health swiftly began cracking down on restaurants selling any and all activated charcoal products, with Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream losing about $3,000 of stock and ingredients used to make its famous Black Coconut Ash ice cream. Alana: Activated charcoal, you came with so many promises of good health. However, I think it's time to say goodbye. You taste like nothing, and you really kinda do nothing. So let's leave that in the 2010s. Shayanne: Remember when we all drank Four

Loko and don't remember it? Narrator: A toxic mixture of caffeine and alcohol, Four Loko took college campuses by storm in 2010. But its peak in popularity was short-

lived

, with a sudden sales crash in the same year when colleges began reporting students falling ill and even dying after benders with the drink. Celia Skvaril: If you saw someone drinking a Four Loko, you knew what they were trying to do. Dominique McIntee: You could kinda pace yourself with other drinks, but with Four Loko,

like, one sip, like, a couple sips, it's game over. Shayanne: Little did we know, you know, when it first came about, like, how destructive that could be. Narrator: By November 2011, caffeine was pulled from the drink in an attempt to make it less effective in quick intoxication, immediately affecting its popularity and sales. Shayanne: After they took the caffeine out, it was almost like a sparkling seltzer, but they don't do it as well. And then it just went, and you know what,

I think it's for the best. Celia: I don't miss Four Loko being cool. Narrator: Four Loko can still be purchased at the occasional liquor store. It's even trying to break into the seltzer market, but the original recipe we knew and loved is gone forever. Shayanne: Dear Four Loko, you know, you had a really momentous heyday filled with a lot of non-memories. We appreciated it for what it was only in retrospect, not in the moment. I think it's just best to leave that in the past.

Narrator: We all remember the slight thrill of knowing that, "When you're here, you're family." But while chains are still an omnipresent establishment in American culture, in the last

decade

, sales have dropped for many big-name chains, with several shuttering locations around the world. Kate Taylor: It's harder to convince millennials and Gen Z to spend their Friday night going to a TGI Friday's or an Applebee's. They feel like they are of an older generation.

It's not gonna be the cultural institution it was a

decade

ago. Narrator: Despite a Twitter campaign to stir the masses, IHOP's sales have steadily declined for the last 2 1/2 years. Kate: People don't want that kind of old, stodgy, average, casual, sit-down dining chain, and if they're gonna spend more, they want it to be a real experience, often at an independent location. Narrator: In 2019 alone, Applebee's made it just a little bit harder to find half-priced apps, closing

20-plus locations. But they're actually one of the fortunate ones, with Pizza Hut closing about 450 locations and the home of the foot-long shuttering over 1,000 doors. Even the King isn't safe, with 250 Burger Kings closed in just 2019. Kate: So, old-school chains, it's sad to hear that millennials killed you, but, you know, it was time to evolve, and some people are doing it, some people aren't. So.