The 11 most popular sweets and chocolate bars of the 70s, 80s and 90s that were discontinued before their time

• There have been some amazing chocolate bars and sweets over the years - and some very strange ones
• Many confectionery favourites of the 70s, 80s and 90s were discontinued before their time
• We asked readers to name the lost sweets which they would most like to bring back, and there were some great suggestions

They are the fallen confectionery giants which hold sweet memories for generations of snack lovers but were discontinued before their time.

When we asked readers to name their favourite sweets and chocolate bars of the past, which are no longer available, there was a great response.

Below are the most popular sweet treats of the 70s, 80s and 90s, according to you, which are no longer on sale in the UK.

The retro treats include one described as the ‘stickiest sweet known to man’, and another which would ‘rip your tongue to shreds’.

How many of these do you remember, and is your favourite among them?

Nutty bar

Lots of you have fond memories of this sweet treat, which consisted of fudge and caramel covered in peanuts.

It was sadly discontinued in the 1980s by Rowntree’s, which said sales were too low.

Hundreds of people have joined a Facebook group campaigning for the return of the ‘gorgeous’ snack.

One fan called them ‘heavenly’, but another person jokingly recalled: “We used to joke that it came out the other end unchanged.”

Cabana

Rowntree’s Cabana bar consisted of caramel, coconut and cherry pieces wrapped in milk chocolate.

It first hit shelves in the 1980s, advertised with a version of ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song and promoted as a taste of ‘tropical magic’, but it was sadly discontinued in the early 90s.

More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for Rowntree’s to bring back the Cabana bar, to no avail.

Fry’s 5 Centre Chocolate Cream

These were hugely popular back in their day.

They were effectively five chocolates in one, with each of the five chocolate covered segments containing a different flavoured fondant centre.

The classic flavours were raspberry, coffee, blackcurrant, orange and lime, though the line-up did occasionally vary, sometimes including vanilla, strawberry or pineapple.

The 5 Centre Chocolate Cream was launched in 1934 and lasted for nearly 60 years before being discontinued in 1992, reportedly because it was so expensive to produce.

One fan joked: “Fry's 5 Centre was too powerful. People who ate it were folding space and time and seeing the future.”

Spangles

Lots of our readers wanted to see these sweets revived.

Spangles were boiled sweets which were made by Mars between 1950 and the early 80s.

The original Spangles packets contaibed a variety of flavours, including strawverry, orange, lemon, blackcurrant and cola but single-flavour varieties introduced later included acid drop, liquorice, spearmint and tangerine.

They were briefly brought back in the 1990s but the comeback was not a success.

Mint Cracknel

Mint Cracknel was the chocolate bar, which, so the advert said, ‘takes you somewhere cool and green’.

It featured a crunchy mint centre, enveloped in milk chocolate, with a small cardboard tray holding two squares.

One person recalled how it tasted ‘a little like toothpaste’, another likened it to ‘mint fibreglass coated in chocolate’ and a third recalled how it would ‘rip your tongue to shreds’

Mint Cracknel was made by Mackintosh’s and was reportedly most popular during the 60s and 70s before being discontinued in the 90s.

Coconut Boost

The Cadbury’s Boost bar remains a popular treat but many readers lamented the loss of the coconut and peanut varieties.

More than 300 people signed a petition to bring back the coconut version, which fans described as ‘fantastic’ and ‘amazing’.

Texan bar

The Texan was a US-themed chocolate bar containing nougat and toffee which was popular in the UK during the 1970s and early 80s.

The TV adverts featured a cartoon cowboy who would declare the Texan bar ‘sure is a mighty chew’.

It was withdrawn from sale in 1984 but, after being named the UK’s favourite sweet of all time in a 2004 survey, it was briefly revived by Nestlé the following year as a limited edition ‘nostalgia’ product.

Toffos

There’s a lot of love out there for Mackintosh’s Toffo toffees, which were particularly popular during the 70s and 80s.

They were available in plain, mint and assorted flavours, with the assorted packs including apple, chocolate, banana, mint, pineapple and strawberry varieties.

They were advertised with the slogan ‘a man's gotta chew what a man's gotta chew’, and lots of people did chew them before they were discontinued in the noughties.

Topic bar

The Topic bar, made by Mars, contained hazelnuts, nougat and caramel.

It was launched in the UK in 1962 and proved particularly popular during the 70s and 80s but was discontinued in 2021.

Among its fans is the comedian Bob Mortimer, who described it back in 2015 as ‘the most underrated, neglected chocolate bar’, adding, in his inimitable style, that it had ‘so much going on and terrific top rippling’.

One of his followers concurred, calling the Topic bar ‘a prince amongst confectionery’.

Tooty Frooties

These colourful chewy, fruit-flavoured sweets with a crunchy shell were launched by Mackintosh’s in 1963 and were popular during the 60s, 70s and 80s.

They were later sold under the Rowntree’s name but were discontinued in 2019.

One fan called them ‘the best sweets’, while another described them as ‘cavity makers and filling pullers’ but added ‘loved them’.

Polo Fruits

Polo Fruits were launched in 1954, with flavours including orange, lemon, blackcurrant and strawberry.

They lasted for seven decades before being pulled by their maker Nestlé in 2023, provoking a furious response on social media.

They are fondly remembered despite people describing them as the ‘stickiest sweet known to man’.

One person joked that they were ‘so sticky that once dropped in the car, you take half the upholstery up with it’.

Do you have retro pictures or nostalgic memories to share with us? Send them online via YourWorld at www.yourworld.net/submit. It's free to use and, once checked, your story or picture will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.