The Legendary Cheesy Snack From The '50s That Still Packs A Punch Today

America is the land of iconic snacks, the birthplace of wonders like Mars Bars, potato chips, and Oreos. Every corner store is lined with crispy, crunchy, and satisfying treats –- and among them is a snack food icon, a puffed corn snack that's guaranteed to turn your fingers orange called Cheez Doodles. These three-inch-long, puffed corn snacks are doused in a heavy coating of vibrant orange powdered cheese. They crunch in your teeth and melt in your mouth, and they've been around long enough that people have started using them in interesting ways –- like Cheez Doodles stuffed in a breakfast burrito or crumbled onto sushi instead of the tempura coating.

Cheese puffs were discovered by accident in the 1930s, and they've been part of American culture ever since. They've stayed mostly unchanged, too -– except for a rotation of new flavors, like the five now available from the snack company, Wise Foods. There are the original and a crunchy version, white cheddar, spicy honey, and honey BBQ flavors. They're part of a genre of snacks called cheese puffs or cheesy poofs, among other names. Cheez Doodles stand out, though, with a light and airy texture and an intense cheesy flavor that keeps customers coming back for more.

WWII food science helped create iconic cheese puff snacks, but we have a businessman looking for a new product to thank for the arrival of Cheez Doodles. Morrie Yohai of Long Island, New York, invented these snacks in the late '50s while searching for something new to bring to the market for the company Old London Foods. Yohai was the business's president and thought to resurrect a snack that had been lingering in the background since its invention. Cheese puffs might be the happiest of accidents in the snack food world.

Yohai changed one of Old London's chip-making machines just enough so it would produce tube-shaped corn puffs and cut them into three-inch strips. The corn puffs were covered in the thick layer of powdered cheese we know and love. They are baked rather than fried, which makes them a bit healthier. Just being baked doesn't quite cut it with health-conscious customers of today. Corn-based snacks are often listed as some of America's unhealthiest packaged snack foods, but that hasn't stopped this snack from remaining popular. Wise put their version of Cheez Doodles on the shelves in 1964, after its parent company, Borden's, acquired Old London. Cheez Doodles are now the second biggest brand of cheese puffs in the world, behind Cheetos.