Whatever Happened To Altoids Sours?

The year was 2004. "Napoleon Dynamite" was making us all crave tater tots, Von Dutch hats were sweeping the nation, Facebook has just launched, and everyone was eating sour Altoids like they were, well, candy.

If you didn't happen to get wrapped up in the stranglehold that Altoids Sours had on the country in the early 2000s, they were tiny hard candies that came in tangerine, apple, lime, mango, and raspberry flavors covered in a sour coating, as Delish points out. They were made by Altoids, a brand known for its refreshing white breath mints sold in classy rectangular tins. Even though they were essentially like any other sour candy, they felt like a treat for adults. Nevertheless, Altoids Sours were discontinued, and people still have such nostalgia for the product that a recipe from 2021 shows you how to make them at home (via Spice Kitchen & Bar); a candy business in Florida is recreating them for customers, as shown on YouTube; and there's even a petition to bring them back on Change.org.

Along with the punch to the gut that was the series finale of "The Hills," the year 2010 brought us the abrupt end to Altoids Sours, as Bustle reports. The candy had a cult following, so what happened? Why was the "curiously strong" sour rug ripped out from under us? A representative from the Mars corporation, which owns Altoids, told Bustle, "They were discontinued due to low national demand. ... If a product is not selling particularly well, unfortunately, we sometimes have to discontinue it." 

There is possibly a bright side to matters, though. The Mars corporation also mentioned that the best way to bring Altoids Sours back is to call or email Mars and let them know how much you love and miss this 2000s icon. If you can't wait for the petition to go through or don't have the time to make your own, you can always grab some on eBay, although an eight-pack of the coveted mango flavor will set you back about $850.