Cheezies facts for kids
Cheezies are a yummy, crunchy snack food popular in Canada. They are a type of cheese puff made from cornmeal and covered in tasty powdered cheddar cheese. You can easily spot them in their bright red-and-white bags!
The Story of Cheezies
Cheezies were invented after World War II by two clever people, James Marker and W. T. Hawkins. They were living in Chicago and experimented a lot to find a way to make this unique snack. They discovered how to push cornmeal through a machine to make finger-like shapes. Then, they deep-fried these shapes and sprinkled them with cheddar cheese.
In 1949, the production moved to Tweed, Ontario. This is where they made the recipe even better and set up the W. T. Hawkins Ltd. factory.
A few years later, in 1956, a fire unfortunately destroyed the factory in Tweed. So, production moved again, this time to a new factory in Belleville, Ontario. Since then, Cheezies have been made in the same factory and are sold all across Canada. It's pretty cool that the original machine James Marker invented was still being used to make Cheezies in 2012! James Marker worked for the company until he passed away in 2012.
In 2016, a storage building for W. T. Hawkins in Belleville also had a fire.
Other Cheese Snacks
Cheezies aren't the only cheese puffs out there! In the 1970s, a company called Old Dutch Foods made similar snacks called "Crunchys." They had cheese and barbecue flavors. Those specific ones aren't made anymore, but Old Dutch still makes Crunchys in two different cheese flavors.
