Okay look, I know I get a little crazy when it comes to delving deep into the history of Sonic the Hedgehog — I’ve gone through the history of Sonic’s American lore bible, I’ve attested to the weirdness of American Sonic cartoons, I’ve looked into Sonic’s long history with Chili Dogs and I’ve even prepared and consumed “official” Sonic Chili Dogs. Simply put, I am perpetually clutched by the gloved hands of Hedgehog madness, hands that possess me to burrow deep metaphorical hedgehog holes and come out days later a changed man.
Why do I bring this up? Is it to give context for a change I wish to make? Am I looking to move past my bouts of Hedgehog madness? Have I finally realized how damaging this obsession with weird Sonic history is to my psyche? Hell no! I’m turning it up a notch, baby! I’m gonna attempt perhaps the most insane Sonic the Hedgehog-related deep dive of my career and catalogue every single Sonic food product ever made. Strap in folks, this is my biggest doozy yet.
Sonic Foods of Japan
Let’s start off with the foods of Sonic’s homeland, Japan. Many of the early items came out of Sega’s SegaSonic branding, a trademark registered by Sega to avoid conflicting trademarks with Taito’s Sonic Blast Man arcade game. This branding helps date some products, but this order is still a rough estimate.
Gourmet Lollipops
Listed by sources as simply “Gourmet Lollipops,” these nicely wrapped suckers are among some of the first Sonic food products and appear to be in the shape of Sonic and feature a SegaSonic sticker on the bell-tied bag.
Cookie Tin
“Next up” was this tin of cookies that were released around the time of the first game and featured easily the cheekiest and most adorable picture of Sonic ever created of him — look at him, who would ever steal cookies from that face!
Asahi Aqua V & Power Vita 11
1992 saw the release of two Sonic-themed sodas via one of Japan’s biggest beer brewers, Asahi: Aqua V — said to be Grapefruit flavored, which led to its negative reception — and The Vita-11 — which was targeted more as a sports drink and was likely just as disgusting.
Fresh Cookies Box
Another product of the SegaSonic brand, this box of cookies had “Fresh Cookies” printed on it, perhaps implying that these were sold at Japanese bakeries fresh daily. The exact kind of cookies in this box is unclear — fresh is not a flavor, I checked — but I was able to parse a year estimate on this box based on the boxart, which place it around 1993 or 1994.
JP Gear Joypolis Originals
JP Gear was a brand made for products sold in the early days of SEGA’s Joypolis theme park, which places these “JP Gear Joypolis Originals” between 1994 to 1996. These were candied coffee beans meant to be eaten as is — which I guess makes sense? Sonic is fast, so scarfing down coated coffee beans and feeling the rush of caffeine and sugar is the closest a person can get to Sonic speed.
JP Gear Cookies
The JP gear brand was also used for this tin of cookies, which weren’t actually in the shape of Sonic and instead were in the shape of the “JP” logo, but since Sonic is on the box and Joypolis sticker, it still makes the cut.
JP Gear Chocolates
The third and final “JP Gear” Sonic food was this container of Chocolates. Not only was Sonic on the cover — look closely, he’s hiding on the right — but these also appeared to actually be Sonic-shaped.
SegaSonic Castella Cake
These SegaSonic branded Castella Cakes (portugese cakes adopted by and popularized in Japan) featured rare island-themed art of Sonic and Tails on one side.
Sonic Fruit Jams
Recently, I delved into the origin of Sonic Jam’s interesting title — it was the idea of artist Satoshi Okano, who got the concept from a musical “jam” session. Someone decided to take this name literally with a series of Sonic Jam-themed fruit preserves. This is a curious case, as it appears to be an officially licensed product (complete with TMs, Sonic Team logos and official Sonic Jam art), but various sources claim otherwise — but they make the list since they’re endearing as hell.
Sega Joypolis’ Sonic Biscuits/”Fried Dolls”
Around the time of Sonic’s famous style change, boxes of Sonic-shaped Ningyo Yaki were sold in Japan. Ningyo Yaki, which translates to “Fried or Baked Dolls,” are Japanese pastries shaped like fish, cats or popular characters — like these, which were shaped like Sonic and were completely put on blast by an unknown reviewer (seen above).
Joypolis Cream Cookies
Amongst many 20th Anniversary Sonic food products featured at Joypolis were these cream cookies that came in a box featuring Sonic and company in the Sonic Adventure art style.
Joypolis Chocolate Crunch
Another 20th Anniversary Joypolis product was Sonic “Chocolate Crunch.” These appeared to be some kind of crispy chocolate squares that came in a decorative Sonic tin — one featuring modern Sonic and one featuring a neo-classic design.
Joypolis “Yellow Snack”
I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what the hell these things are. There was only one image of these boxes and absolutely no hint as to what the previewed food pictured on the package is — but they’re definitely food… I think…
Sonic Sweet Chocolate Crunch
These chocolate treats were individually-wrapped crunchy balls that came in three flavors, Milk Chocolate, Strawberry Chocolate and White Chocolate, and came in a box featuring a wonderful little poem about Sonic on them that read:
A quick bolt of lightning and Sonic’s his name
Helping the needdy [sic]-that’s Sonic’s game!
Speed is his glory, it’s what he dose [again, sic] best
Sonic’s the fastest north, south, east & west!
Truly moving.
Sonic Sweet Chocolate Cake
The above poem was also featured on boxes of “Sweet Chocolate Cake,” which were simple cakes sold at Joypolis.
Sonic 20th Anniversary Joypolis Candies
Zooming into the shelf of food products from the Sonic Stadium Joypolis pictures, I found that these celebratory candies are just simple hard candy with a Sonic font “S” shaped into them that only came six to a pack — a poor celebration for everyone’s favorite hog. For shame, SEGA, for shame.
Joypolis “Happy Birthday” Cookies
There isn’t much information on these cookies featuring Sonic in a white suit stamped on them, but assuming the “Happy Birthday” is in reference to Sonic’s anniversary, they could be from his 20th or 25th Anniversaries.
Sonic Joypolis Ramune Candy
Featured amongst Joypolis products like the Chocolate Crunch tins, these Ramune candies date around 2011 and were fizzy Ramune-flavored tablets meant to recreate the fizziness of soda.
Joypolis Chili Dogs
America’s infamous contribution of Chili Dogs to the Sonic franchise eventually made its way back to Japan, one of the results of this being various Sonic-themed Chili Dogs, a majority of which were sold at Joypolis over the years. If you’ve read this piece of mine, you’re already familiar with these hog-dogs, so I won’t make this list even longer with the details.
Rin-Chan Ramen
In 2014, SEGA did a strange, strange crossover with Love Live! School Idol Project — a multimedia franchise about nine girls who become idols to save their school — which resulted in the character Rin-Chan being SEGA’s temporary spokesperson, leading to merch like this, as well as the above promotional Ramen.
Sweets Paradise/Tokyo Skytree Town Sonic Anniversary Menu
During Sonic’s 25th Anniversary, Sonic-themed cafes were made out of Cafe chain “Sweets Paradise” and “Tokyo Skytree Town’s” official shop, resulting in around 20 special Sonic food items. These special menu items included special drinks themed after characters, a Sonic Chili dog with onion rings, a black bun cheeseburger with Shadow printed on the cheese, an Eggman omelette, Sonic character pancakes and pastries and much more.
Sonic Forces Cafe Menu
Sega once again teamed up with Sweets Paradise in 2017 to create a Sonic Forces-themed menu. Similar to the previous menu, this had character-themed drinks — including my favorite, a blue drink meant to be Sonic Adventure antagonist Chaos — and various other cute Sonics foods totalling to 11 items.
Hooters Japan Sonic Forces Special
Hooters Japan would also receive a Sonic Forces promotion in the form of one of Sonic’s various real-life Chili Dog offerings. This meal came complete with a blue Sonic-themed drink and a collectible Sonic Forces coaster.
Sonic Chili Dog Koppepan
The most recent Sonic-themed Chili Dog, which may still be around today, is a specialty Koppepan from popular Japanese cafe, Komeda.
Sonic Blue Curry
Last, and certainly not least, amongst Japan’s food products is the infamous Sonic Curry. Though the taste of this odd product is reported to be quite good, it also has the odd side effect of turning your poop blue… for several days…
More Sonic:
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Sonic Foods of America
America’s relationship with Sonic has always been a bit odd — many of his first releases came with some modifications by Sega of America, causing early Sonic media to be filtered in some way in the States, and the early Sonic food products of America reflected this.
Sonic Container Bubble Gum
One of the earliest recorded American Sonic food products were these little Sonic-shaped containers of gum pellets from Topps, which released said pellets buy turning Sonic’s arm.
Sonic Cherry Coke
In 1993, Sega of America teamed up with Coca-Cola for the Cherry Coke/Sega Sonic Shuttle, a vehicle meant to showcase the latest Sega games as part of SoA’s “Welcome to the next level” ad campaign. The shuttle toured major cities of America offering Cherry Coke and the chance to play Sonic games in 1993, then again in 1994 (and non-Sonic-themed in ‘95). Though the Cherry Coke didn’t appear to be Sonic-themed, this major cross-promotion is too big not to count.
Life Savers
Since Life Savers are already a ring-shaped candy, it seemed like a no brainer for Sega to team up with them, which is exactly what happened from 1993 to 1995. The above variations of Life Savers (both hard and gummy and varying in flavor) was the result of this team up — some of them featuring rebates for or chances to win Sonic/Sega prizes.
Sonic Fruit Stripe Gum
One of the more obscure Sonic food products of America was Knuckles-themed Fruit Stripe, which likely resulted from the licensing with Lifesavers (as they were both owned by Nabisco at the time).
Game Gear Container Bubble Gum
These game-gear shaped gum packs held sheets of gum and came packaged with collectible Sonic trading cards and came in various colors and game-theming.
Sonic Shaped Lollipops
Probably the most elusive of America’s Sonic food products, these were apparently Sonic-shaped lollipops that came in plastic or silicon casing that served as a collectible toy after the candy was consumed.
Sonic Honey Nut Cheerios
Released in 1994, these Sonic-themed/specially marked boxes of Cheerios offered the chance to win various Sega prices, including a Sega Genesis, and were advertised via a fully-animated Commercial.
Sonic Fruit Roll Ups
These fruit roll up peel-outs came out as a Sonic 3 promotion and were part of a sweepstakes that granted the winner the chance to be President of SEGA for a day. I searched and searched for who this winner could have possibly been, but to no avail. If you’re out there mysterious winner, I have to interview you.
Sonic Cracker Jacks
You know what Baseball games lack? A Healthy dose of Sonic the Hedgehog! Luckily 1994 saw the release of Sonic 3 promotional Cracker Jacks, complete with various Sonic prizes inside.
Sonic Cookie Crisp
Like the Honey Nut Cheerios, these Sonic-marked boxes of Cookie Crisps weren’t overtly Sonic-themed, they just offered the chance to win Sonic games and Sega systems and came with Sonic prizes — in this case, Sonic pogs.
Franco-American Sonic Pasta
This Sonic-shaped canned pasta from Franco-American was pretty cut and dry… save for its bizarre commercial depicting a vaguely Robotnik-dressed boy (coincidentally named Sean, which broke my sleep-deprived brain) whose mom throws a can of pasta at him for being unresponsive — is this Robotnik’s origin? Did his mother throw cans at him until he became evil?!
Sonic Ice Cream Bar
At last, we’ve come to the crown jewel of American Sonic food products, the Blue Bunny Sonic ice cream bar — which debuted in 1995 and is still sold today. Over the years, the only things that have changed about these gumball-eyed bars are the color of Sonic’s eyes and the packaging — the Ice Cream Bar’s penchant for having its eyes comically misaligned on the other hand has remained wonderfully unchanged since 1995.
Genesis Controller Container Gum
Like the Game Gear Gum, this purple gum container themed like a Genesis Controller housed a flat sheet of gum and collectible Sonic trading cards.
Sonic Speed Energy Drink
Though not quite as famous as the Sonic ice cream bar, these little cans are amongst some of the U.S.’s most well known Sonic food products.
Chaos Emerald Sour Candy
Sold around the same time as “Sonic Speed,” these little Sonic-shaped tins contained tiny chaos emerald-shaped sour candies.
Sonic Mania Jones Soda
One of the more recent American Sonic food products was a series of collectible bottles of Sonic Mania Soda. Made by Jones Soda, these Con exclusives came in three flavors themed after Sonic, Knuckles and Tails and were meant to be collectors items rather than widely-available promotional drinks.
Sega Forever Gold Rings Cereal
As part of a marketing campaign for their “Sega Forever” game streaming service, Sega released a limited run of Sonic-themed “Gold Rings” cereal. This was a simple Cheerio-type cereal that came complete with a small Sega Genesis keychain prize inside.
Sonic Funko Pez Dispenser
Nothing makes a character look worse quite like a haunting pair of lifeless Funko Pop shark marble eyes — made worse only by being turned into a Pez dispenser, resulting in the above disaster, which is technically a food product.
Sonic the Hedgehog “FunkO’s”
Another result of Funko’s stranglehold on pop culture products were these allegedly chemical-tasting Sonic-themed “FunkO’s.” One of many character-based “FunkO’s” cereal boxes, the cereal inside was the same as every other themed box
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Gold Gummy Rings
The final and most recent American Sonic food product is a curious one: these Sonic ring-themed pineapple gummies were allegedly available a month before the Sonic film’s release and were made by a company called Pastime Treats… but there is almost no evidence of these things existing or being sold, which chalks them up as a “maybe.”
Sonic Foods of the United Kingdom
America’s early relationship with the Sonic franchise is weird, and the United Kingdom’s was just as, if not weirder, especially when it came to food products. No, it’s not just because British Food is weird and gross (Fish and Chips, you’re cool), it’s just that most of the products given Sonic theming are odd.
Sonic Daddies Ketchup
Starting off, we have these Sonic-themed bottles of “Daddies” Ketchup — I repeat Daddies Ketchup — produced by HP foods. These special bottles had a blue cap and plastic wrapping meant to make the bottle look like Sonic himself — which, in turn gave us the glorious image of Sonic with the word “Daddies” across his chest.
HP Foods Canned Sonic Pasta
Predating Franco-American’s, HP foods also released cans of Sonic-shaped pasta. These were far more intricately shaped than their American counterpart and also included Badnik-shaped noodles and a Tails-shaped noodle incorrectly labelled as “Sally Acorn” of the SatAm series.
HP Foods Beans and Sausages
It’s possible that these cans are just alternate designs for the Sonic-shaped pasta, but some sources have pegged this to be Sonic-themed Beans and Sausages. There’s not much confirmation of this, but it wouldn’t be far-fetched considering the popularity of baked beans in the UK.
HP Foods Dry Sonic Pasta
HP Foods’ Sonic-shaped pasta was also available in a dried box form, which could be made in three minutes and had three cooking options. Additionally, the entire box was decorated in Sonic paraphernalia, including rather adorable images of Sonic cooking.
Sonic Toffee Biscuits
Around 1993, the UK saw its first Sonic-themed sweet treat in the form of these Toffee Biscuits from Burton’s Foods. These came in a Sonic-themed bag, featured Sonic & Tails shapes and featured collectible paper scenes.
Sonic Crisps
These Sonic-themed crisps (chips for us normies) from Burton’s were puffed into 3D Sonic shapes, came in one of three flavors and featured Sonic-themed packaging.
Sonic Cadbury Chocolate Coins
Perhaps one of the strangest UK products was this box of Cadbury Chocolate, which came paired with a chocolate egg for some reason, the only Sonic thing about this product being the box art.
Sonic 3 Blue Candy Sticks
Next we have these Sonic 3 “Blue Candy Sticks,” from Barratt, which featured Sonic 3 art and were likely just blue rock candy sticks.
Sonic Chocolate Roll
In 1994, a series of UK Sonic products were showcased in an unknown magazine, the first being some Swiss Cake Rolls-looking treats that were wrapped in Sonic packaging and placed in a Sonic-themed display box.
Sonic Mega Milk
Another product from this unknown magazine was “Mega Milk” — no, not the kind you’re thinking of — which was some kind of flavored and/or colored milk that came in a Sonic-themed box.
Sonic Face Cake
One last product featured in the 1994 Magazine was a giant Sonic face cake sold at Sainsbury stores, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains — however, it’s unclear if this cake was an unlicensed product made in Sainsbury bakeries or if it was an officially approved Sega product.
Sonic & Knuckles Milky Way
In 1994, Sega teamed up with Mars to release a series of Sonic & Knuckles promotional Milky Way Bars, which had a Genesis sweepstakes and were advertised in magazines with a comic of Sonic racing/teaming up with Milky Way’s logo.
Sonic Kellogg’s Frosties
In 1994, Frosted Flakes — called Frosties in the UK (adorable) — released Sonic-themed boxes that came with Sonic yo-yo prizes as well as a chance to win a Mega Drive or other Sonic merch, all of which was advertised in an animated commercial.
Sonic Fanta
Fun fact: Fanta was originally created as a stand-in product when the Nazi Germany trade embargo made it impossible to get ingredients for Coca Cola — and in 1995 Fanta released promotional Sonic-themed cans of Fanta (or ANTIFAnta) in the UK. Titled “Sonic Cool Cans,” these came in three flavors named after Sonic’s level etymology.
Sonic Advent Calendar
This is another weird one, a Sonic-themed Christmas advent calendar circa 2008. The calendar featured Sonic in a Santa outfit and each day contained a small chocolate, which technically makes this a food product.
Sonic Marshmallow Tin
One of the more recent UK Sonic food products is this tin of strawberry-filled marshmallows. Released some time around 2010-2012, this tin was shaped like Sonic and was created by the Great Character Candy Company.
Sonic Money Bank (With Chocolate Coins)
As far as I can tell, the most recent United Kingdom Sonic food product is another wild one, this Ceramic Sonic-shaped coin bank packaged with a handful of chocolate coins, technically making it a food product.
Sonic Foods of Saudi Arabia
Sometime around 2016, Saudi Arabian company SweeToon received a licensing deal with Sega. The result was a series of sweets and snacks with Sonic-themed packaging — featured in commercials that oddly used an instrumental version of “His World,” the main theme of Sonic ‘06.
Sonic Marshmallow Lollipops
The first batch of sweets from SweeToon were these character-shaped marshmallow lollipops. They appear to be semi-soft marshmallows covered in sugar crystals and were shaped like Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy.
Sonic Gum Pops
SweeToon also offered a series of gum-filled candy lollipops wrapped on Sonic the Hedgehog packaging — sold individually or in various bulk bags and coming in various flavors.
Sonic Orange Drink
Continuing down the line of generic products with Sonic’s face slapped on them, we have this pouch of mysterious citrus liquid simply known as “Orange Drink.” D E L I C I O U S.
Sonic Mini Marshmallows
SweeToon offered two different non-lollipop marshmallow snacks. The first were these miniature colored marshmallows that came in Sonic-spin shaped containers.
Sonic Jam-Filled Marshmallows
The other marshmallow SweeToon products were packs of Jam-filled Marshmallows that came in Blueberry and Strawberry flavors.
Sonic Hazelnut Spread
Nutella. It’s just Nutella. It’s just a nutella rip-off with Sonic on the jar.
Sonic ChocoSticks
The above hazelnut spread was also featured in a Sonic-themed snack pack that came with breadsticks for dipping.
Sonic Choco-Drops
SweeToon’s Sonic products included several chocolate treats, one of them being M&M type candies called Choco Drops featuring Sonic-themed stamps on them.
Sonic Milk Chocolate Eggs
SweeToon also produced these Sonic-themed Chocolate Surprise Eggs, which may have contained a prize inside them.
Sonic Milk Chocolate Bars
Next up there are these simple Milk Chocolate bars. These came in two sizes, a full sized bar and skinnier, individual-sized bars that came in one of four character-themed packages and was also available in white chocolate flavor.
Sonic Sugar Coated Corn Flakes
SweeToons also produced two Sonic certals, the first being a standard sugar-coated corn flake with Sonic on the box.
Sonic Chocolate Cereal
Equally generic was the chocolate flavored Sonic cereal, which appears to be a Coco Puffs knockoff with an actiony Sonic on the cover.
Sonic Cereal Bars
SweeToon also put out a couple of cereal bars, using what appears to be condensed corn flakes formed into a bar with white chocolate on the bottom and coming in three flavors.
Sonic Chocolate-filled Biscuits
Another simple one, just chocolate-filled cookies with a Sonic spin-dash graphic on them.
Sonic Wafers
Next up are these wafer cookie treats, which came in four different flavors and character-themed packages.
Sonic Coconut Wafers
SweeToon produced one other type of wafer cookie, which is different enough to warrant its own entry — as it was a breakable coconut-flavored bar and less of a wafer.
Sonic Rice Crispy Treat
The final Sonic food product from Saudi Arabia was these standard rice crispy treat-styled snacks.
Sonic Foods of Spain
Between 2014 and 2016, Adams Foods released struck a deal with SEGA, resulting in the following Sonic Boom-themed food products.
Sonic Boom Tosta Rica Biscuits
The main Adams Foods product were these Sonic Boom-themed Tosta Ricas (a popular cookie in Spain), which had the Sonic Boom art on them and also came in chocolate flavor.
Sonic Boom Tosta Rica Choco Guay
There were two other Sonic Boom Tosta Rica snacks from Adams Foods, the first being “Choco Guay.” These were chocolate sandwich versions of the cookies that featured the same Sonic Boom art.
Sonic Boom Tosta Rica Bizcochitos
The third and final Sonic Boom Tosta Rica treat from Adams foods were “Bizochitos,” which, as far as I can tell, are more cake-like versions of Tosta Ricas, with a soft inside and chocolate filling.
Sonic Boom Phoskitos
While these chocolate covered swirl cakes weren’t specifically Sonic Boom themed, the boxes featured Sonic Boom art and came with a Boom toy inside. These were also available in mini sizes.
Sonic Boom La Piara Tapa
Last, and certainly not least, we have some of the most bizarre Sonic the Hedgehog food products in all of existence, Sonic Boom-themed Pork Liver and Tuna spreads known as La Piara Tapa — because when I think of Sonic, I think of spreadable Pork Liver and Tuna.
Sonic Foods of Canada, Australia & New Zealand
Finally, we’ve rounded the final corner of this exhausting exercise in insanity. The following are Sonic food products available from the parts of the world that had so few themed items that they didn’t warrant their own segment.
Sonic the Hedgehog Treat – Canada
Packaged with a collectible Sonic card, these Resse’s-like treats were featured in a vendor catalogue and may have never actually seen the light of day considering the lack of photos.
Sonic the Hedgehog Chocolate Bar – Canada
The other product from the mysterious vendor catalogue was the “Sonic the Hedgehog Chocolate Bar,” which was basically a Peanut Butter Snickers that came with Sonic Advance 2 tips on the wrappers.
Sonic Heinz Pasta – Australia
Not to be confused with the two other Sonic the Hedgehog-themed pastas, this product was an Australian-exclusive release from Heinz.
Sonic Milk Ice – Australia & New Zealand
Coming in at the finish line we have Australia and New Zealand’s “Sonic Milk Ice with Shock Rocks.” This Toppa/Tip Top-brand ice cream bar was a multi-flavored popsicle with a candy filling and a coating of shock rocks that were advertised via a bonkers commercial in which Sonic and Tails, completely unprovoked, shove light bulbs into the ears of Dr. Robotnik and light them up by “electrocuting” him with the shock-rock-covered treat. Truly terrifying stuff.
Gotta Eat Fast
Well, I’ve done it, I’ve catalogued every single known Sonic the Hedgehog food product ever made. Do I feel accomplished? Vaguely! Do I feel satisfied? Kind of! Do I feel confident in my life choices and the days I spent researching this? Absolutely not! I do, however, feel like buying a Sonic Ice Cream bar, so I’m gonna venture out into the COVID wasteland and procure myself some frozen endorphins mellow out this case of brainworms.
Oh, and apologies if you don’t want to eat anything ever after reading this.
