Top 8 Food Fads Through the Years

With 2014 coming to an end, we thought we’d take a moment to reflect back not only on the past year but also the past decade or two. Food fads work almost like fashion trends – they come and go, sometimes in a cycle, sometimes just once. How many of these do you remember?

1. Atkins Diet

Remember that period when low-carb diets were all the rage? Well, in 2003, it wasn’t surprising to find Atkin Diet products lined along grocery store aisles. From snack bars to non-sugar sodas, the market was filled with this new product line. Fast food companies also grabbed on this opportunity, and started sneaking Atkin-related into their menus.

But what was this new hype actually about, and why were people going crazy about it?

According to Dr Robert Atkins, the diet consisted of high amounts of protein, and low amounts of carbohydrates, and was marketed as a miracle for weight loss. The craze didn’t last long, though, and the Atkin diet was relatively obsolete in 2005.

2. Bacon 

Ask any vegetarian – one of the most commonly asked questions when someone finds out about their dietary choices is “But how do you live without BACON?!” That’s how much of a staple it has become in the American diet. It’s for good reason, though. Add bacon to your breakfast, burgers, Mac n’ cheese, etc. and it becomes ten times better. Epic Meal Time, a popular food channel on YouTube, almost always includes bacon in their creations to some degree.

3. Deep-Fried Oreos

Thank goodness we live in a world where deep-fried Oreos are a thing. If you haven’t had one, you’re missing out on one of the best experiences you could provide for your tastebuds. The idea doesn’t sound like much, but this savory, exquisite treat is undeniably delectable. That’s why it became a carnival favorite a few years back, and it became a staple state fair experience for many.

4. Cupcakes

In 2000, Miranda, a character from “Sex and the City” was spotted munching on a cupcake on from New York’s Magnolia Bakery. Ever since then, cupcakes became a huge food craze around the world. Now, there isn’t a single person who hasn’t had a cupcake before. Sprinkles was the very first cupcake bakery which started in Beverly Hills in 2005. People went absolutely crazy for cupcakes, and cupcake shops were popping up all over the place. In L.A. there were even cupcake ATMs, and it seemed like the mania would never end. But, like all food fads, the cupcake craze slowly declined in 2013.

5. Kale

Have you recently been adding this green leafy vegetable to everything? From salads to smoothies – oh wait even chips and dips – kale has become the favorite vegetable of every health-conscious American. It’s been coined as “the superman of the vegetable aisle,” the craze for kale started in 2013, when every household started stocking it in their refrigerators. As a healthy alternative, many have been munching on kale chips as a snack option.

6. Froyo

Ah, the healthier cousin of everyone’s favorite frozen dessert: ice cream. You have probably noticed that frozen yogurt stores rapidly popped up everywhere, mostly because of it’s alleged health factor as well its fully customizable nature. Whatever combination of flavors you’d like is completely up to you – orange sherbert and chocolate cheesecake? Go for it. Blackberry tart and cake batter? Why not. You can also add as many or as little toppings as you’d like, the world is your oyster. Well, more like the toppings bar is your oyster, but you get it.

7. Coconut Water

By now you’ve probably came across various ads that praise coconut water for its amazing benefits. This potassium-filled drink became wildly popular in recent years, and grocery stores everywhere are stocked with it.

8. Greek Yogurt

Tagging along with the huge yogurt fad that has come and gone, people have gone crazy for Greek yogurt. You either love it or hate it, but you can’t deny knowing about it. Remember the good old days where the yogurt section at the grocery store had just the classic brands? It was always Yoplait, Dannon, and YoCrunch. But now the yogurt section is this massive wall of all different kinds that it’s even intimidating to look at. There have been plenty of popular Greek yogurt brands that have made their way onto the shelves, and all those typical yogurt companies have made their own line of Greek yogurts to follow the trend. 

*photos of cupcakes, deep-fried oreos, and grocery store aisle via Shutterstock