Have you ever had to Cheeze It before? Although the expression means to get out fast because you’re going to get into trouble if you’re caught, Cheez Its were actually invented in 1921 by the Green and Green Company out of Dayton Ohio. It might be a little orange, rectangular cracker, but they’re bite-sized and they’re bursting with flavor! Today they come in a variety of cheesy flavors including pepperjack, but the original cheddar is still massively popular. When you eat some Cheez Its, everything seems right in the world for some time.
Didn’t Keebler Foods Invent Cheez Its?
The Cheez Its name didn’t even come under the Keebler home company until the mid-1990’s. Up until then, they were sold by the Sunshine Biscuit Company, which was an off-shoot of the Green and Green Company. Today they are made by Kellogg, but they still have the Sunshine Biscuits label on the upper left corner of every box.
How are Cheez Its made? The modern cracker is a combination of wheat flour, vegetable oil, cheese made from skim milk, paprika, salt, and yeast. Preservatives are included to help increase the shelf life of the product as well. Providing just 150 calories per serving, they are some crunchy goodness that other crackers just can’t be replicated. They are even kosher.
The story of the Green and Green Company is one that isn’t easy to find online today. The Cheez Its, in fact, weren’t even the most popular crackers that were being sold at the time. That distinction goes to the Edgemont Crackers, which came in metal tins and were rather large crackers. A bit like a saltine and a bit like a matzo cracker, they were easy to crumble up and use as toppings, crumbs, or a quick snack.
What Makes Cheez Its So Good?
You’ve got to go to the Sunshine Biscuits days of the Cheez Its to understand why they are such a tasty snack. The company, which was started in the early 1900’s when one of the members of Nabisco’s board of directors decided to liquidate his holdings, was envisioned to be a baking company that could bring a lot of sunshine into people’s lives. To that extent, they created products that either had sunshine in their name or created products that were reflective of sunshine.
When the opportunity came along for Sunshine to acquire the holdings of the Green and Green Company, they jumped at the chance. What looks more like sunshine than the bright orange cheesy crackers that are of the Cheez Its variety? The company invented Vienna Fingers and if you eat Krispy brand saltines, you’re also eating a creation of the Sunshine Biscuit Company.
Cheez Its are a wonderful, low calorie baked snack that kids and adults both love. They’re highly affordable, have a reasonably good shelf life, and have amazing flavors that make you want to go back for more. In many ways, it is hard to believe that these crackers are over 90 years old.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
