They definitely changed. Most of them got smaller, many of them got dryer (less moist), and they all got more expensive.

They replaced butter with palm oil. Look for ones not made in the US. Aldi has a bunch of good ones.

Yes, randomly had my first zebra cake in ~25 years and holy shit are they awful. Not only smaller but really dry. I used to walk the long way home (an extra half mile!) to slam down a hard earned quarter for one of those things in my youth. Threw the fuckin box out after three bites.

IDK but all the Little Debbie type cake things really do taste like wax to me now. And they used to be good, somewhat

Trans fats were gradually banned in the US from 2008 to 2018

Both. As I grow older I'm more and more fond of bitter stuff that younger me wouldn't like, and younger me was more accepting of the very sweet stuff.

Probably both.

Of course, everyone on Lemmy is going to say they are worse because capitalism or something. But I remember eating those packaged cinnamon rolls as a kid and the outside being deliscious pure sugar and the inside being dry, low quality bread. But I still loved them because SUGAR. These products were specifically designed to appeal to children, and thus contained the maximum amount of refined carbohydrates and fats they could smash inside a plastic wrapper. Kids today will still be jazzed to eat an entire box of zebra cakes. You, however, are now an old, who has lost their joy for the good things in life, including cheap, high calorie junk food. Time for the retirement home, gramps!

At the same time, the manufacturer did change the recipe. Presumably, portion sized got smaller, they found a cheaper source for even more processed flour and sugar, etc. But they also removed the trans fats. And they also cost more.

Which..... is a good thing? Bit of a tangent here, but I feel like Lemmy has this very weird take. The modal lemming has executive dysfunction and can't exercise the self control to give up their vices, like eating junk food, not exercising, and self-isolating with digital media. So they pray for something to change so they can break their addictions - but they still want the option to occasionally indulge. So these days, junk food tastes worse than ever, cars are full of annoying screens and spyware, tv plotlines are formulaic and boring, and social media is filled with ads and AI slop. And meanwhile, junk food, new cars, gasoline, studio apartments, and streaming services are more expensive than ever. It's like an omnipotent, omniscient sky-god heard their prayers and said "Okay, all your vices are now less appealing and more expensive. Now it makes sense to enjoy your vices as higher quality, occasional indulgences, while shifting your lifestyle to living in a shared home in a bikeable area and making home cooked meals with your roommates." And the lemmings are so angry about it.