The Truth About Swedish Fish Oreos

If you've ever perused the cookie aisle in a supermarket, you know that Nabisco seems to have no shortage of ideas when it comes to coming up with new Oreo flavors. From s'mores to cookie dough, and everything in between, you're guaranteed to find the Oreo form of your favorite dessert. Oreo has even dabbled in fruity flavors, like key lime pie and strawberry shortcake. With flavors like these, a Swedish Fish Oreo isn't that off-brand, but that didn't stop customers from assuming they were the product of some very skilled photoshopping (via Delish). 

Swedish Fish Oreos, contrary to popular belief, were as real as ever. Back in the summer of 2016, Oreo rolled out this particular flavor at Kroger stores nationwide. Like many of the brand's nontraditional flavors, the Swedish Fish-flavored cookies only hit shelves for a limited time. This lack of availability made the flavor hard to come by and many only saw the Oreos on social media. Though the release of Swedish Fish Oreos generated a serious amount of social media buzz, the consensus was overwhelmingly negative, making it unlikely Oreo will bring back the flavor in the future (via Business Insider).

There's no denying Swedish Fish and Oreos are tasty treats on their own but don't exactly live up to the "Milk's Favorite Cookie" slogan when combined. According to The Impulsive Buy, neither the flavors nor textures of the cookie were complementary. The artificial cherry overwhelmed the chocolate of the cookie, and a reviewer described the creme as, "a little more sticky, chewy, and dare I say... slimy."  

Oreo stood by the decision to release the cookie, explaining that their goal when creating new flavors is "to provide surprising new twists people know and love, and on occasion, create unexpected and unique flavor combinations that people may never have thought were possible" (via Time). It definitely doesn't get much more unexpected and unique than Swedish Fish flavored cookies and no one will forget these cookies anytime soon.