Each decade, we’re faced with some of the most trendy foods of the season. While many of them remain iconic and are recycled with newer food trends, some of them are outright ridiculous. Think of those outrageously big milkshakes or those dangerous raw milk that would put our health at risk. Today, we’ve rounded up 11 of the most ridiculous food trends that we’ve seen over the past years that were weirder than you remember.
11. Freakshake
Just when you thought milkshakes couldn’t get any unhealthier, the freakshake arrived from Australia. This monstrous mashup of sweets is enough to make you go sugar rush! It features a towering glass with milkshake and decor of ganache with a pile of cream, cake, and sauce. It’s further decorated with candies and even more pastries. That’s a whopping 1,500 calories per serving!
10. Cauliflower Everything
Yup, that bland vegetable made a takeover just a decade ago. Why? It became a low-card substitute, and suddenly it’s everywhere. They went from rice to mashed potatoes and even pizza crust. The cauliflower craze was a desire for a healthier and gluten-free alternative made for everyone. But it became too much like a pumpkin spice in the fall.
9. Dalgona Coffee
Remember those pandemic days in 2020 when a new coffee trend emerged? That’s right, it was the boom of the dalgona coffee from South Korea. It features a reverse latte with whipped, frothy coffee on top of milk that became a viral sensation on TikTok. However, it’s too sweet for everyone’s liking, but hey, it does the job of keeping us comforted during times of isolation.
8. Unicorn and Rainbow Food
Our nostalgia with Lisa Frank may have started the unicorn food trend back in 2017. In here, we saw food, mostly desserts, in pastel colors with edible glitter. We’ve got rainbow bagels and a unicorn Frappuccino from Starbucks. While that was a magical trend, we forget that our food gets filled with food coloring and artificial flavors, making them unhealthy, especially for children. Let’s just leave that trend from the past, can we?
7. Ramen Burger
The ramen burger was a carb-on-carb creation that sent foodies into a frenzy. It was actually born in 2013 during the Brooklyn food festival, which replaced the traditional burger buns with tightly packed pan-fried noodles. The result? Just as you imagined, it is a sturdy bite with a chewy beef patty. The secret lies actually in the shoyu-based sauce. But when you think of it, there’s nothing really special, and it was a bit of a try-hard.
6. Bacon Everything
During the early 2010s, we were on a full bacon obsession that went into a whole new level. It wasn’t enough that we had bacon for breakfast, as we needed it in our donuts and even our ice cream. Yup, we pushed our savory and sweet agenda way too hard. And not to mention, the bacon-wrapped burger that was every health junkie’s nightmare. Thankfully, we’re way past the trend and toned down on the bacon.
5. Sleepy Girl Mocktail
Remember the Sleepy Girl Mocktail? Yup, that one trend from TikTok, which features a mix of cherry tart juice, magnesium powder, and prebiotic soda. The drink promised to bring the best night’s sleep yet. Well, the science behind its sleep-inducing claim is a bit hazy, but it wouldn’t hurt for millions of TikTok users to try them out.
4. Pumpkin Spice Everything
This is one trend that could never die down. The pumpkin spice flavor of fall features a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to flavor a pumpkin pie. However, it became a seasonal obsession from lattes to candles and even dog treats. Just a trip to the grocery would reveal a shelf full of pumpkin spice-flavored products that are hardly even the real flavor blend. If you think about it, it’s just an artificial flavoring used for marketing by big companies. Let’s tone down on the “pumpkin spice,” shall we?
3. Raindrop Cake
Remember in 2016 when everyone was obsessed with a dessert that tasted like… nothing? It was the viral raindrop cake, which features a jiggly dome made out of water and agar. It was originally a Japanese creation called Mizu Shingen Mochi, which is a zero-calorie dessert with a water balloon texture that melts in your mouth. You get the flavor from its toppings of roasted soybean flour and a sugary syrup. Is it really worth the hype?
2. Raw Milk
If you’re looking for a dangerous food trend, then it’s probably raw milk. It was made popular by social media influencers for misplaced nostalgia. It was a claim that unpasteurized milk was more nutritious and flavorful. However, people failed to ignore that pasteurization was invented to kill harmful bacteria like Salmonella and Listeria. Trying this trend meant a gamble on your health.
1. One Chip Challenge
The infamous One Chip Challenge involved eating an extremely spicy tortilla chip. What could go wrong? Well, the chip is seasoned with some of the hottest peppers in the world, and you wait as long as possible before consuming anything. It showed people sweating, crying, and vomiting. In some tragic cases, serious medical emergencies. That’s one extremely dangerous and ridiculous trend that gains nothing.