Cheetos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cheetos are a crunchy, cheese-flavored snack made from extruded cornmeal. Introduced by Frito-Lay in 1948, they currently sell about one billion bags per year in a number of countries. In some markets they are popular enough that the word "Cheetos" is often used as a generic term for any similar cheese puffs snack food, but it is, in fact, trademarked by the Frito-Lay company.
Cheetos are made in many different styles. There are "Crunchy Cheetos", which are fried. Some Cheetos are baked in ovens; for instance, Cheetos Puffs, Cheetos Twists, Cheetos Paws, and Cheetos Whirls are all "finished dryed" in very large throughput ovens.
They are of minimal nutritional value, with a 1 Oz serving providing 10.0g of Fat[1] , and being artificially coloured, flavoured and preserved.
Contents |
[edit] List of Cheetos Products/Styles
- Crunchy Cheetos 1948
- Cheetos Puffs 1971
- Cheetos Paws 1991 (discontinued in 1994)
- Cheetos Cheezy Checkers 1995 (discontinued in 1999)
- Flamin' Hot Cheetos 1995
- Crunchy Nacho Cheetos 1996 (discontinued in 1998)
- Cheetos Zig-Zags 1999 (discontinued in 2003)
- Cheetos X's and O's 2000 (discontinued in 2002)
- Flamin' Hot Cheetos con Limon 2005
- Cheetos Puffs Twists 2003
- Cool Ranch Cheetos 2003 (discontinued later that year)
- Cheetos Pizza Puffs 2005 (discontinued later that year)
- Baked Cheetos 2004
- Cheetos Natural White Cheddar Puffs 2004
- Cheetos Holiday Twists 2005 (discontinued in 2006)
- Cheddar Jalapeño Cheetos 2005
- Flamin' Hot Baked Cheetos 2006
- Cheetos Crunchy Twists 2006
- Flamin' Hot Cheetos Puffs 2006
One of the more popular varieties of Cheetos are "Flamin' Hot Cheetos", which are covered in a spicy powder. They also come in "Flamin' Hot Cheetos con Limon", which are also flavored with lime.
A distinguishing feature of snacks in this genre is their tendency to turn the eater's fingers orange or red. This is due to the powdered dyes used to color the corn tubes. In 2005, Holiday Cheetos Twists were introduced, which were made to turn the eater's tongue green. Natural Cheetos contain no dye or food coloring and do not contain artificial flavors or preservatives. Nutrionally, they are similar to other Cheetos snacks though.
The manufacturing process does not create uniform pieces. At times, exceptionally large Cheetos have been sold on eBay. The largest of note is about the size of a lemon, weighs half an ounce, and is preserved and on display in Algona, Iowa. [2]
[edit] International variants
[edit] India
Cheetos are sold in small bags (15g) for 10 Indian Rupees each. They are manufactured by PepsiCo India.
Varieties of Cheetos sold in India:
- Cheetos Cheesy Masala Balls
- Cheetos Masala Balls (Red and Green Chili flavored)
- Cheetos Spicy Cheese Whirlz
- Cheetos Tangy Loops (Tomato and Red Chili flavored)
[edit] Korea
Neither Flamin' Hot Cheetos nor Cheesy Cheetos is sold in Korea. Koreans instead made different flavors of Cheetos such as:
- Chicken-Flavored Cheetos
- Bulgogi- Flavored Cheetos
and more.
[edit] Mexico
- Cheese & Jalapeño Claws
- Cheese & Jalapeño & Ham Cheetos
- Chester Cheetos Balls
- Cheetos Colmillos
- Cheetos Puff
- Cheetos Twisted
- Cheetos Flamin' Hot
In Mexico, Chester Cheetah is Chester Cheetos.
[edit] Peru
- Hot-dog Flavored Cheetos
- Hamburger Flavored Cheetos
[edit] Advertising
From the beginning [citation needed], Cheetos' slogan was "The cheese that goes crunch!" That slogan remained until 1996, when it became "Dangerously cheesy!" This is the current slogan for the product.
Variety packs of snack-size packages of Cheetos and other Frito-Lay snacks featured Family Circus in the 1980s.
Cheetos originally did not have a mascot until 1986, when an anthropomorphic cartoon cheetah named Chester Cheetah was introduced. Since his commercial was successful, the sly, smooth voiced cheetah soon starred in another commercial, and eventually, he became Cheetos' official mascot. He has even starred in two video games.
TV commercials for Cheetos have consistently featured a theme where Chester Cheetah desperately attempts to eat other people's Cheetos. Through the mid '80s and '90s, he was often seen sneaking up on an unsuspecting stranger at a beach or public park. The result would always involve cartoon violence like Chester clumsily getting his face smashed flat by a trash can lid or being launched into a water tower. Contemporary TV spots are beginning to portray Chester in CGI animation and in less antagonistic manner.
One particular commercial in 2006 had Chester defeating a rival chef, by the name of Chef Pierre, in a baking contest to create Baked Cheetos. This led to an advertising campaign titled Chester Goes Undercover, in which Pierre, thinly disguised in silhouette, steals the Baked Cheetos recipe, and Chester gives chase by finding clues that lead him to Pierre's minions Twisted McGee, Flamin' Hot Fiona, and Cruncher. Upon confrontation with Chef Pierre, Agent X signaled all the agents to appear and Pierre and his minions were apprehended.
[edit] Popular culture references
- On South Park, Cartman is excessively fond of a snack called Cheesy Poofs, which are very similar to Cheetos or cheese puffs.
- According to an article in GQ magazine, Saddam Hussein is very fond of Cheetos.
- A character who looks exactly like Chester appears in issue #72 of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book.
- Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres constantly announces her love for Cheetos.
- Britney Spears has been photographed several times with a bag of Cheetos in her hands, and has often proclaimed her fondness for the snack.
- In the computer game F.E.A.R., a character named Norton Mapes eats bags of snack food called Cheezee Pooz which is similar to South Park's Cheesy Poofs but mostly Cheetos puffs. Cheetos have also appeared in the game Neverwinter Nights.
- Two Chester Cheetah videogames were released for home videogame consoles in the 1990s. They appeared on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.
- In the Dinosaur Comics webcomic, Cheetos are referred to as "hobosnacks." In the comments easter egg, Ryan North claims, "If you've eaten Cheetos and you're not a hobo, WELL THEN, you're doing it wrong." [3]
- In Toy Story 2, Al, the founder of Al's Toy Barn, is seen asleep with a bowl of cheese puffs in his arms. This bowl falls on the floor, and becomes an obstacle when Woody attempts to retrieve his missing arm.
- In the webcomic Overcompensating the character Weedmaster P overdoses on Cheetos clearly labeled "Dangerously Cheesy" and meets with Chester Cheetah in a near-death experience [4]
- In the movie, The Shining, Jack Nicholson Eats Cheetos in his kitchen early on in the movie.
[edit] In recipes
A cheap recipe is the "Cheetos Sandwich" made from a base of two slices of white sandwich bread generously spread with cream cheese. As many cheetos as possible are heaped on one of the slices, then the second slice is placed on top and pushed down hard until all the cheetos are crushed. Cheetos are also a possible addition to tuna salad sandwiches. The cheetos are layered on top of the tuna as an additional filling. Everything here described can be done also with either Doritos or Potato chips or a combination of all the three for maximum flavour experience.
[edit] See also
- Cheez Doodles, a similar product made by Wise Foods, Inc.
- Wotsits, one-time rival to Cheetos on the UK market, now owned by Pepsico/Frito-Lay
