Remember in the movie Ratatouille when the food critic tastes the ratatouille and he is immediately taken back to when he was a kid? I have always believed that this is totally possible and have had it happen to me on many occasions. It is true bliss when a food tastes so good that it conjures up a good memory.
On the other hand, there are also times where you look forward to eating something and are completely disappointed. That just happened to me this week.
On a recent trip to Sam’s Club, we loved seeing all of the Halloween decorations that were on display. With Halloween, they usually bring out the “Monster” cereals that I loved as a kid. We happened to see a display where they had packaged 3 of the well known flavors with a new flavor. My wife chuckled and said to buy it.
Count Chocula and Frankenberry were always my favorites. I couldn’t wait to crack open a box and eat it. The kids had tried the Count Chocula, so that was the one I tried first. It was the first disappointment.
As soon as I poured it into the bowl, I noticed that it smelled as good as I remembered. When I took a bite, though, it was a major let down. I felt like there was no taste whatsoever. I remember it tasting chocolatey – like a good bowl of Cocoa Puffs – but that was not the case. It was disgusting. I felt like the box would have tasted better.
I decided that maybe something with a bit more flavor might be better, so I tried the Frankenberry the next day. Again, the smell was as good as I remember, but there was barely a hint of “berry” to it. It was so bland.
What happened, General Mills?! I know that if the cereal tasted like this when I was a kid, I would not have been so excited to have a bowl as an adult. What a let down. I suppose from now on, I will look at the characters on the box and smile while I remember that it USED to be good.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
I think most all of my fav childhood cereals have been changed to a healthier version and they are not nearly as good )
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Everything has been changed… like KFC…I remember exactly how it tasted…it doesn’t taste like that anymore. Like Beth said they are either going healthy or saving money with ingredients.
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We had KFC here, maybe two years back. Don’t know that I’d had it in US before, but it wasn’t likeCanadian KFC of my youth…but was way over-priced
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I refuse to go there. It is overpriced for sure!
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It tastes NOTHING like it did in the 70s, 80s and early 90s.
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Beth’s probably right – they used to be too sugary and likely the manufacturer had to cut down to meet some sort of regulations. I remember the Chocula, Frankenberry and Boo berry from my childhood, we rarely bought them , probably even my dad (who loved Capn’ Crunch and Sugar Crisp) realized they weren’t healthy. But then they disappeared from the Canadian market – I don’t know if government prohibited them due to sugar, banned the advertising because it targeted kids or if the market just was too small . Around 2000, one gal I worked with would go to NY about once every two months for a weekend and at this time of year, she’d take orders and haul back box upon box of them!
But a caveat, Keith – is everything else tasting normal? If not, maybe it’s a Covid effect – I know your household was sick with something last week, that seems to be a pretty common symptom – dramatic loss of taste. But if it’s only the cereals, well , it’s what Beth said.
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Thankfully, everything else tastes fine. Knock on wood
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Good! Did they have Sugar Crisp here? Had a Sugar bear for a mascot, who I think stole sugar from some old lady who chased him in the commercials or something…ahh those 70s!
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Oh yeah, I remember the mascot well. Every year there is a hot air balloon festival near me and the Sugar Bear balloon is always there.
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