The Discontinued Cheetos That May Never Be In Our Snack Stash Ever Again

When snack food products are discontinued, sometimes there's a good reason for the move. Over time, consumers learn to live with it. On other occasions, however, they may just feel frustration and disappointment. For an example of the former, Trader Joe's best-selling Patio Potato Chips aren't on shelves because of a fire at the factory where they were manufactured. That makes perfect sense. In contrast, we have widely loved products like Cheetos Twisted Puffs, which disappeared from our lives in the blink of an eye with no explanation, leaving nothing but fond memories and rumbling bellies.

Twisted Puffs were, as the name suggests, a type of thick Cheetos puff (as opposed to the crunchy variety) that was twisted into a corkscrew of cheesy goodness. The puffs had a good run of it, staying on shelves from 2002 until 2012. For some passionate fans of orange dust-stained fingers, however, 10 years was simply not long enough. They started a Change.org petition to bring Twisted Puffs back, but while it's amassed over 2,500 signatures, still no puffs have returned to grocery shelves.

On the internet, fond memories of the discontinued Cheetos live on in hearts and minds. An Instagram account appropriately named SnackBetch waxed nostalgic, claiming, "I don't know why, but these hit different from the regular puffs." TikTok was not immune from the longing, either, with users declaring, "I'm still grieving those," and "these were my first true love." 

It seems that every single human on the planet — all 8.1 billion or so of us — may have to settle for regular cheesy puffs. You can buy a 40-pack mix of various Cheetos flavors in snack-sized bags, but no Twisted Puffs are present. While PepsiCo, the parent company of Cheetos, has never commented on why it 86'd the fan-favorite snacks, discontinued products disappear for a number of reasons. These can include becoming unprofitable, declining consumer interest, or simply the whims of corporations changing up product offerings in an attempt to stay relevant. In short, we may never know why Twisted Puffs had to leave us. Sadly, it seems these delicious treats may just be another 2000s-era discontinued food that's gone with the wind.