Thursday, July 21, 2011

Classic Children of the 90s Post: Lunchables

Your faithful Children of the 90s blogger is still on vacation...but in the meantime please enjoy this classic post about Lunchables:


In the late 80s and early 90s, the Oscar Mayer company was out to prove that they were more than just a catchy jingle and a Weinermobile. At this point, we were all fairly aware of Oscar Mayer's way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A. We were relatively proficient in identifying our bologna by both its first and second names. We even had general affection for ingesting the aforementioned mysterious lunch meat daily. What more could they want from us?

Perhaps they were upset were were packing non-Oscar Mayer brand products in our school lunches. Maybe it was that sometimes we favored Jennie-O Turkey Breast over our old mystery meat pal bologna. Or possibly they were just concerned we weren't meeting our daily sodium level potential. Whatever the instigator may have been, the quest to streamline the lunch-packing process had begun.

When it came to the 1990s elementary school cafeteria, brown bags and insulated coolers were out and prepackaged boxed lunches were in. Suddenly the height of cafeteria coolness revolved around snack-like, nutritionally devoid, candy toting yellow boxes. To pull out one of those signature Lunchables boxes at lunch time was to declare yourself party to the latest in food trends and blatantly flaunt your parents' reputable recalcitrance for wholesome nourishment. Those of us whose parents insisted on packing us a food pyramid-inspired balanced meal were forced to hang our heads in shame at our lack of preboxed lunchtime delights.

The Lunchables roster certainly expanded over the years, but it began with a simple savory formula: crackers, adorably miniature slices of lunchmeat, and overprocessed and suspiciously orange cheese slices. Later models included such awe-inspiringly nutrition-void amenities as Capri Sun drink pouches and a fun size portion of candy. Some of us, though I won't say who, learned the don't-put-metal-in-the-microwave lesson the hard way via the addition of the metallic Capri Sun pouches. Her parents may or may not have frozen Lunchables for posterity and future lunchability, and she was not quite patient enough to let it thaw. Again, I'm not naming names, but she may or may not have broken her family's brand new microwave through this ill-fated Lunchable venture*.



Lunchable varieties became increasingly questionable with each successive incarnation. Each model stayed true to the original formula of a collection of spare lunch parts complete with assembly instructions, but Oscar Meyer certainly weren't afraid to experiment with creativity. They churned out pizzas, nachos, mysterious forms of "dunkers," tacos, and nearly any other fathomable junk food-based product. Naturally (or as the case warranted, by means of artificial flavoring) it was only a matter of time before anti-childhood obesity groups and health advocates stormed the Lunchables bastille in the name of all things overly salty.


Yes, these salt-packed snacks were tasty, but it's largely due to the fact that they were often packing a whopping three quarters of a daily recommended value of sodium for an adult. Mind you, these were mainly consumed by children, so it's fairly simple to deduce that the sodium content more than exceeded their healthy daily dosage. This preservative-rich snack boxes came under fire for their absolute defiance in the face of rising health consciousness. Essentially, researchers looked on in horror as morbidly obese children waddled to their lunch tables, inhaled a Lunchable, chased it with the fun size candy, and went into a salt coma. These were kids walking through their elementary school hallways single file not out of obedience to teachers but out of necessity to fit through the cafeteria door.

The Oscar Meyer/Kraft people could only hold out for so long. There was really no adequate defense for the remarkably low nutrition levels of their products, other than that children adored them and their junk-foody contents. As long as there was a consumer demographic of parents still willing to poison their children with dangerous sodium levels, there was no reason for them to make any sort of adjustment. However, as the pressure from nutrition advocates mounted and led to devastatingly bad press for Oscar Meyer/Kraft, the company quickly changed their salty tune.


It may be a bit harsh to say they sold out, considering the admittedly poor levels of nutrition in the original product. However, they did oblige to their opposition and began offering options such as fruit juice and yogurt. While these new additions may have had some grounding in health food, it's pretty safe to say they didn't significantly alter the overall caloric content. Regardless, as long as the juvenile salt-related cardiac arrest subsided, they were able to quietly continue packing children chock full of delicious artificial additives.

That said, it's important to note that some of their current releases are highly questionable. Take this disturbingly fizzy pop-rocks knockoff meat+candy creation.It just goes to show you that change does not necessarily equal progress. To its credit, however, the packaging does herald the excellence of the meal's calcium content. Calcium or not, the whole thing seems pretty suspicious. It's safe to say that while contemporary children may not enjoy the same levels of salty deliciousness, Lunchables continue to outrage parents everywhere in a distinctly kid-pleasing manner.

And isn't that what really counts?






*In case you failed to gather from the heavy hints, this was clearly me. I never did own up to breaking the microwave.

18 comments:

for the love of pictures said...

I just ate a Lunchable a few days ago. It was a result of hungry for a snack + a sale. Not quite the taste treat I remember, but it served its purpose :)

Revidescent_84 said...

Ya couldnt go too wrong unless you ate the gawd-awful pizza ones. Cold tomato sauce on floury cardboard slices...yum, why not just eat the box instead? And I ate the nacho ones in enough ridiculous excess, I should BE a salt lick by now.

FASHION CHALET said...

I'm not old enough to be having a mid-life crisis. But I must admit I have been scouring the web for any info on books I used to read in the nineties, the shows I enjoyed watching, and the clothing I would wear. Your blog came up every single time! :)

Maybe you can help me find a book (might be a series) with a bunch of brothers and sisters who move together to (NY?) I remember one of the younger brothers had a girly name he was embarrassed about. I think the author's name was Colleen?

Great blog, keep it up!

Brittany said...

I saw in Cosmo that they make adult lunchables now with wheat thins, a thin sandwich, and chocolate mousse. That seems like a good improvement on the original :)

Andrew Lewis said...

Oh my god! You made me have such a great throwback to my time at school. I still remember me and my sister used to take these Lunchables at school. And as my sister had an appetite, I used to eat hers too. Life was so good in childhood. Now it just works that is online help for business assignment in UK and actually, appetite is more after work.

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harry said...

Woah! It reminds me of my childhood when I always used to eat such things. I remember my parents always daunted me for eating these things. Life was too good in childhood. I must say thanks for sharing, your post helped me to remember my childhood because I became very busy in the career of essay writing service in which I did not get time to remember my childhood.

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RED ARROW said...

This is quite a junk food, so now I understand why there were so many overweight children in my school. It also affects nutrition in adulthood because eating habits are very difficult to change. I had a problem like this and I was only able to handle it thanks to https://www.biox4nucific.com/ingredients. The food supplement Bio X4 reduced my cravings for junk food, and I began to focus on healthier foods in my diet.

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Chris said...

I remember having Lunchables back when I was a kid in the 90s, they were definitely a guilty pleasure! Parents of the era, myself included, didn't have to worry too much about what we were feeding our children as long as it was in some way nutritious, unlike parents these days that have to source certain server motherboards and certain types of food like organic products. Anyway, it definitely brings back fond memories of my childhood!

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