The Reason French Toast Crunch Cereal Was Discontinued (And Brought Back)

If you grew up in the 1990s and were lucky enough to have parents who allowed you to eat sugary cereal, you no doubt remember French Toast Crunch. Given the popularity of its sister cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, General Mills made the obvious decision to expand the brand in 1996 with maple-flavored miniature pieces of French toast sprinkled with cinnamon. It didn't take long after the new cereal had launched for it to become a household favorite among kids before they meandered off to school. But the glory days of French Toast Crunch were short-lived, as the breakfast cereal was discontinued in 2006.

Snack foods are sometimes discontinued for good reason but cause for the disappearance of French Toast Crunch is murky — though poor sales were almost certainly part of the equation. But why were sales in a slump? In the mid-2000s, products made in France were struck by international political turmoil, at least in some U.S. markets where "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" were served in response to France pumping the brakes on international action against Iraq. Some Americans' distaste for anything French feasibly contributed to declining sales of certain products. One of the casualties of the strained relations between these two countries could have been this innocent breakfast staple.

Yet French Toast Crunch was down, but not out. Consumers who remembered the maple-flavored French toast minis wanted the nostalgia back in their lives and agitated for its comeback. This led to a return of the iconic breakfast cereal to U.S. grocery shelves in late 2014.

During the eight or so years that Americans were deprived of their cinnamon-speckled, French toast-inspired breakfast cereal, Canadians were going about as if nothing had happened. That's because nothing had. North of the border, the morning breakfast treat — dubbed Croque Pain Doré on French-language packaging — continued to be a breakfast staple in some Canadian households. This likely had to do its popularity remaining steady in Canada, where Québécois culture meant that resentment related back to France didn't exist as it did in the United States at the time.

Once French Toast Crunch experienced its triumphant revival in U.S. grocery stores, it never left again. Shoppers learned that brands once removed from stores can be reinstated, similar to how discontinued Aldi products can return with enough vocal devotees. That's certainly something to consider the next time you're waxing nostalgic about one of the discontinued '90s snack foods you once adored.