the ring came off my pudding can

July 12, 2011 10:56 PM

Where can I find chocolate pudding in a can? The kind with the easy-to-open ring.

I haven't had the need to purchase chocolate pudding in a while (more than a decade or so), now all I can find are puddings in plastic cups, plastic tubs or dried powder in boxes at several stores on the west coast. I take it the pudding cans with rings on the lid were probably nixed in favor of cheaper plastic packaging, but I'm partial to the old ways of chocolate pudding in a metal can. I've googled and searched around but can't find any. Does anyone know if they still make this somewhere? Thanks.

posted by peppito to food & drink (14 answers total)

I've looked for this too! (Chocolate Snack Pack, I love you.) But alas, I think it's all plastic, all the time, now. (Last year over the Christmas holidays I actually asked my mom, who lives in the midwest, if she could look for some for me for my Christmas stocking. No joy. Sigh.)
posted by hapax_legomenon at 11:05 PM on July 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen those in years. Maybe they banned them because too many kids (like me) cut their tongues while trying to lick them clean.
posted by Knappster at 11:16 PM on July 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

theichibun: "Fruit came that way. Never pudding."

I remember it being in cans as a kid (say, 25 years ago).

What, you thought the Simpsons reference in the title was wholly made up?
posted by Chrysostom at 11:17 PM on July 12, 2011

pretty sure this is a discontinued packaging for reasons of cost (shipping & materials) and safety.

I remember it, too, although I can't say I miss it despite being plastic-leery.
posted by batmonkey at 11:25 PM on July 12, 2011

First google result for "canned pudding: gave me this brand that still makes it.
posted by munchingzombie at 11:32 PM on July 12, 2011

Do you mean chocolate sponge? If so, Heinz make it in the UK, and you can find it on amazon.
posted by robtoo at 11:39 PM on July 12, 2011

First google result for "canned pudding: gave me this brand that still makes it.

Thanks, but that's a larger can than the individual sized cans that were once available.

Do you mean chocolate sponge? If so, Heinz make it in the UK, and you can find it on amazon.

That's pretty close.
posted by peppito at 12:20 AM on July 13, 2011

Pudding came in a can with a ring pull when I was a kid (born 74) and it was the best. Yogo and its tubby ilk are pale imitators.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:07 AM on July 13, 2011

Sorry, haven't seen it in the cans in years, just the plastic cups: I've got to agree with others that the switch was for safety (Knappster wasn't the only kid licking the lids!), cost (lighter shipping weight, cheaper manufacturing), and even possibly less waste.
posted by easily confused at 2:55 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

How bout chocolate frosting/icing, doesn't it still come in ring top cans? Just pretend it's pudding. Tastes better too (IMO).
posted by serena15221 at 9:06 AM on July 13, 2011

I loved those cans of pudding so much.
posted by orme at 9:21 AM on July 13, 2011

Sometimes you can find LARGE metal cans of pudding (like around 28oz or something) in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. Sometimes I'll grab a butterscotch one if I'm in the right mood :D
posted by Jinkeez at 10:34 AM on July 13, 2011

I had a powerful moment of nostalgia when I went to the store to buy a pack of Sterno the other day. Sterno cans come in the same packaging that pudding used to: six small cans, stacked two by two, in a cardboard wrapper that lets the sides of the cans pooch out.

So my advice is to buy a pack of Sterno, then make a batch of pudding and pretend!
posted by ErikaB at 12:56 PM on July 13, 2011

I have a definitive answer! According to the new book, Whatever Happened To Pudding Pops, Snack Packs no longer come in metal containers. The book has this to say: 'Snack Pack, the top dog of the no-need-to-refrigerate, portable pudding goodness, manufactured its last metal cover in 1984,' and it's now only a 'gooey memory.' 'Metal Pudding Containers' were given the rating 'gone for good,' and the writers say that 'pudding cups now have soft plastic peel-away tops.' Cost might have been a consideration but, so, too, was safety. Apparently, it's much less likely that you'll slice your tongue off with plastic.

(Great book, btw)
posted by Mael Oui at 11:38 PM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]