The History of Pillsbury's Space Food Sticks beginning in the early 1960s.

Space Food Sticks are snacks created for the Pillsbury Company in the late 1960s by the company's chief food technologist, Howard Bauman. Bauman was instrumental later in establishing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points regulations used for food safety.

Bauman and his team were instrumental in creating the first solid food consumed by a NASA astronaut: small food cubes eaten by Scott Carpenter on board Aurora-7 in 1962. (John Glenn had consumed the fruit-flavored drink Tang in space three months earlier aboard the Friendship 7.) Space food cubes were followed by other space-friendly foods created by Pillsbury's food engineers, such as non-crumbly cake, relish that could be served in slices, and meat that needed no refrigeration.

In 1970, Pillsbury filed for a trademark for a "non-frozen balance energy snack in rod form containing nutritionally balanced amounts of carbohydrate, fat, and protein" which they dubbed "Space Food Sticks". (No basis for use of the term "nutritionally balanced" was provided.) A forerunner of energy bars, Space Food Sticks were promoted by Pillsbury for their association with NASA's efforts to create safe, healthy, and nutritional space food. 

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Apollo space missions, Pillsbury marketed a consumer version of the “perfectly balanced energy snack,” that was slightly modified, and a shorter version of the food sticks eaten by astronauts. Fourteen individually packaged sticks were included in a box, labeled as a "nutritionally balanced between-meal snack," and came in six flavors such as peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate.

Kids eating Space Food Sticks, 1969

But in 1971, just two years after Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, Pillsbury decided to drop ‘Space’ from the advertising for the sticks, and ultimately from the product name. 

John Szafranski, a grocery product manager for Pillsbury at the time, said, “We used the word ‘Space’ because of the NASA project, because the product did indeed go to outer space, and because they were first marketed at a time when public excitement about the space program was at a peak.” He added that Pillsbury stopped using ‘Space’ in the product name because “the image that space food has in the minds of many consumers is a negative one. They think space food, in general, is dry – dehydrated – and not necessarily very tasty.”

In 1973, the Skylab 3 mission, scheduled for 60 days, included modified versions of Food Sticks in astronaut meals every third day would enable the mission to be extended to 85 days, while only adding an additional 59 pounds in the weight of the cargo the crew brought. The mission actually lasted 60 days, launched on July 28, 1973, and landed on September 25, 1973.

During the infamous Apollo 13 mission, when the crew had to abort their moon landing, the sticks were integrated into the daily menu for the three astronauts on board. The sticks stuck around for the next four Apollo launches. 

Pillsbury “Food Sticks” were remarketed as “an energy snack that gives you the balanced nutrition of a miniature meal” and as “the food for busy people.” Pillsbury also slowly changed Food Sticks from being called a “balanced nutrition snack” to a “balanced nutrition food.”

The success of Pillsbury Food Sticks was short-lived. They were only available in supermarket shelves until the 1980s, as waning interest led them to be discontinued. Other copycat versions soon became available in their place.

They were revived by Retrofuture Products, of Port Washington, New York, in 2006. Two flavors, chocolate, and peanut butter were released. They were sold at flight museums such as the Kennedy Space Center and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum as well as online until production stopped in 2014.

Space Food Sticks

TV Commercials

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.