Inspiration can be found in the most unlikely places. When it comes to inspiring new foods, the military has had a bigger influence on snack innovation than you might expect. For example, during World War II, food scientists were tasked with finding ways to feed extremely large numbers of soldiers for as little money as possible while remaining nutritious and sustainable. The results of this research led to surprising, unforeseen snacks like the popular corn puffs known as Cheetos. The cheese snack we still eat today owes World War II to the invention of its key ingredient: powdered cheese.
Since their appearance in the late 1940s, Cheetos have dominated the cheese snack market. According to a 2017 report from Statista, Cheetos were the number one cheese snack brand in the U.S. by quite a wide margin. Long before the controversial creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and before Chester’s Puffcorn hit snack store shelves, there were simply the original crunchy Cheetos that promised a tasty, cheesy bite (and orange fingerprints afterward). Fun fact: The orange powder that gives Cheetos their iconic cheese dust coating is called “cheetle.” This tasty coating and cheese-like flavor were originally invented in a dehydration accident by food scientists during World War II.
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Cheese dust was a happy accident discovered through military-funded food research
The processed cheese and cheese spreads we know today from Kraft were very popular among soldiers during World War I. When World War II began and food scientists began experimenting with ways to get food to soldiers quickly and easily, cheese was naturally on their menu.
While the taste of cheese from home remained in high demand among soldiers serving overseas, food manufacturers and food scientists alike struggled to figure out how to properly store and ship the fickle dairy product without causing major spoilage problems during long-term storage. The high fat content in cheese also reacts poorly to large temperature fluctuations, meaning it must remain refrigerated and tightly sealed during transport and storage. This process is extremely expensive to maintain, so regular full-fat cheese wasn’t exactly an ideal option for the military.
This is where the idea of dehydration came in. When scientists first applied this method to cheese, however, it crumbled into a dry powder instead of solidifying or melting as expected—this was exactly the cheese dust that was later sprinkled on chips and sold as Cheetos. U.S. Department of Agriculture dairy scientist George Sanders patented this surprising discovery in 1943 and sold it to the military as a cheap, easy way to make cheese dishes without having to worry about expensive shipping costs or difficult storage solutions.
Cheetos were developed to enhance leftover military food
After the war ended, food manufacturers had a surplus of rations that weren’t easy to sell to civilians—few people still resorted to things like potato flakes, dried eggs, and dehydrated powdered cheese. But the ingredients were tempting to food manufacturers, who sold the military’s leftovers at a discount. In 1948, Frito Company founder and longtime military supplier Charles Elmer Doolin used this surplus of powdered cheese to introduce Cheetos to the snack world. The snack was originally developed as a cheesy alternative to the popular cornmeal chips Fritos.
In 1961, Cheetos Puffs were invented, with a different crunchy texture but the same cheesy, orange-dusted deliciousness. Whether you prefer the traditional crunchy chips or the cheesy puffs, and whether you have fond memories of discontinued Cheetos varieties we’ll probably never see again, just know that none of this would have been possible without the accidental discovery of cheese powder, fueled by curious food scientists and a militant love of cheese.
Read the original article on The Daily Meal.
