Nineties kids in mourning as childhood dinner staple 'goes extinct'

06 February 2024 , 19:05

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There's a childhood dinner staple that won't be around for much longer (stock photo) (Image: Veselina Alexandrova/Getty Images)

Nineties kids, hold on to your hats - a great hero of childhood dinnertimes could be on its way to extinction.

If you grew up in the 90s, you probably tucked into one of the culinary staples of our time, the absolute height of excellence to any young child - the humble turkey dinosaur. Delicious with beans, peas, or spaghetti hoops and often served with your choice of potato smiley faces, chips, or mash, the dino-shaped turkey nuggets could be found in the freezer of almost every UK household with a child under 10.

But according to the latest research from food experts, turkey dinosaurs are about to join the reptiles they are so brilliantly shaped after - as they're going extinct. That's right, it turns out that kids these days aren't as enamoured by the quirky nuggets as we used to be, and with more families looking to make healthy eating choices in 2024, the turkey dinosaur could be saying its final goodbyes.

Turkey dinosaurs could go 'extinct' in 2024 (Bernard Matthews)

The news comes as part of the latest food trend report from meal-kit service HelloFresh, who reported that half of Brits are looking to prioritise healthy eating habits this year, so are looking to ditch ultra-processed foods such as turkey dinosaurs.

HelloFresh also claimed that a quarter of households in the UK are already omitting turkey dinos and potato smileys from their supermarket shop, and many other culinary delights including chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, crisps, and processed cheeses were voted as the top foods that would be left out of their shopping baskets this year.

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Just because many of our freezer staples are being discarded doesn't mean the appliance won't see any love this year though, as data suggests some freezer foods are actually "seeing a boom" - especially fruit and veg.

"Frozen fruits and vegetables are seeing a boom in our freezers, ranking as top ingredients households would like to use more of this year due to their cost-effectiveness and longer shelf life compared to their fresher formats which can often go to waste due to their expiration dates," a spokesperson for HelloFresh said, according to The Metro, "It's about what you stock in your freezer that determines whether it's your friend or foe!"

The declining popularity of the turkey dinosaur is likely to cause heartbreak among nostalgic 90s kids, as there was previously a post on Reddit that praised the simplicity of the humble dino treat.

One person wrote: "I'm someone who loves cooking good quality food with good quality ingredients, but you're never too old for turkey dinosaurs. Even better if they're served with those potato smiley face things and baked beans," while another added: "I see nothing wrong with those dinosaurs. I'm 30."

Zahna Eklund