18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
New dupes of classic 2000s sweets land on Sainsbury's shelves as shoppers scramble to stock up
The original sweets were discontinued in 2003
SUGAR RUSH New dupes of classic 2000s sweets land on Sainsbury's shelves as shoppers scramble to stock up
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
SHOPPERS have spotted a dupe of an iconic noughties sweet on Sainsbury's shelves.
Rowntree's Bursting Bugs first hit shelves back in 2000, with confectionery fans loving their creepy crawly shapes and gooey filling.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
The Rowntrees sweets were discontinued in 2003
Credit: Facebook
2
The Sainsbury's sweets are thought to be similar
Credit: Sainsbury's
However, they didn't stick around for long, and were discontinued in around 2003, due to low sales.
Despite their short time on supermarket shelves, the insect-shaped sweets have remained a nostalgic memory for many sweet treat fans, with a petition even started to bring them back.
And now, snack fans have spotted a similar treat on the shelves at Sainsburys.
Posting the Newfood's UK Facebook group, one excited snack lover said: "New Bugs & Beetles Sweets from Sainsburys!"
Attached the post was a picture of the new Sainsbury's snacks which are a very similar shape to the Rowntrees sweets.
The post was flooded with comments from shoppers excited about the discovery.
One shopper, tagging a friend said: "OMG we need some of these.
"They should be like them old squirty bugs Rowntrees made."
Anotheer person said: " I remember these sweets back when I was a kid and they got discontinued!"
Tagging a friend, a third person said: "Could they be as good as Bursting Bugs?!"
Iconic 80s retro sweet RETURNS to UK supermarket shelves after a decade
A fourth added: "I remember when Rowntrees used to make them."
However, another shopper was left disappointed to find that the Sainsbury's sweets, which are priced at 75p, are not gooey inside, like the originals.
Wham bar return
This comes as eagle-eyed shoppers recently spotted that iconic 80s sweet, the Wham bar has returned to supermarket shelves, in an ice lolly version.
Posting to the NewfoodsUK Facebook group, one shopper said: "Wham Ice Cream Lollies are back at Iceland Foods."
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs...
Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars.
Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
The sour raspberry flavoured ice cream lolly features "cosmic crystals" and has no artificial colours or flavours.
The lollies are available exclusively at Iceland and a pack of four sweet treats costs just £2.50.
Shoppers raced to the comments section of the Facebook post to share their excitement at the new lollies.
One person said: "These sound amazing".
A second person added: "I wonder if rockets are back too!"
