Oreo facts for kids
An Oreo is a cookie sandwich or cream biscuit. It is made by the Nabisco division of Mondelēz International. The cookie has a sweet, white filling of "creme" or "cream". The creme is in between two circle-shaped chocolate or golden cookie pieces.
Nearly 500 billion Oreos have been sold since they were first sold. Oreo has been the highest-selling cookie brand in the world since 2014.
History
The "Oreo Biscuit" was first developed and produced by the National Biscuit Company (today known as Nabisco) in 1912 at its Chelsea, New York City factory in the present-day Chelsea Market complex, located on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets. In 2002, this same block of Ninth Avenue was ceremoniously named as "Oreo Way". The name Oreo was trademarked on March 14, 1912. It was launched as an imitation of the original Hydrox cookie manufactured by Sunshine company, which was introduced in 1908.
The original design on the face of the Oreo featured a wreath around the edge of the cookie and the name "OREO" in the center. In the United States, they were sold for $0.25 (equivalent to $7.58 in 2022) a pound (454 g) in novelty metal canisters with clear glass tops. The first Oreo was sold on March 6, 1912, to a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey.
The Oreo Biscuit was renamed in 1921 to "Oreo Sandwich"; in 1948, the name was changed to "Oreo Crème Sandwich"; and in 1974 it became the "Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie", the name that has remained to this day. A new design for the face of the cookie was launched in 1924; the modern-day Oreo design was developed in 1952 by William A. Turnier, incorporating the Nabisco logo. In 1920, a second lemon crème-filled variety of the Oreo was introduced, as an alternative to the white crème-filled variety, but this was discontinued in 1924 and the original flavor was the only version available for the next several decades.
The modern Oreo cookie filling was developed by Nabisco's principal food scientist, Sam Porcello, who retired from Nabisco in 1993. Porcello held five patents directly related to his work on the Oreo; he also created a range of Oreo cookies that were covered in dark chocolate and white chocolate. In the early 1990s, health concerns prompted Nabisco to replace the lard in the crème filling with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. This also made it possible for the bakery to become kosher-certified, a lengthy and expensive process for Nabisco. Similarly, Oreo cookies are popular with people that have certain dietary restrictions, such as vegans, as the crème filling does not use any animal products.
Ingredients
The ingredients of Oreo cookies have remained largely unchanged from the original, although numerous alternative varieties and flavors have emerged over time. Oreo cookies were made with lard until the mid-1990s, when Nabisco swapped the animal fat with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Then in the mid-2000s Nabisco eliminated the partially hydrogenated oil from the ingredients, due to growing health concerns. The classic Oreo cookie is made using eleven main ingredients:
- Sugar
- Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mono-nitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid)
- High oleic canola oil or palm oil
- Cocoa (treated with alkali)
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Leavening agent (baking soda or monocalcium phosphate)
- Corn starch
- Salt
- Soy lecithin
- Vanillin
- Chocolate
Nutrition
One six-pack of Oreos contains 270 calories, hence there are 45 calories in one cookie. Of these 45 calories, 27 come from carbohydrates, 16.5 come from fat, and 1.5 calories are provided by protein.
Different Oreo flavors have varying amounts of carbohydrate: the chocolate fudge Oreo contains 13 g of total carbohydrates (4% of the recommended daily intake) and 9 g of sugars per serving of 3 cookies, while mint Oreos contain 25 g of total carbohydrates and 18 g of sugars per serving. Oreos contain small amounts of proteins and minerals (iron and sodium are present) but they do not contain any vitamins.
Varieties
In addition to their traditional design of two chocolate wafers separated by a crème filling, Oreo cookies have been produced in a multitude of different varieties since they were first introduced. This list is only a guide to some of the more notable and popular types; not all are available in every country. The main varieties in the United States are:
- Double Stuf Oreo – Introduced in 1974, this variety has about double the normal amount of crème filling as the original. Available with various flavors of crème filling: original, chocolate, peanut butter, cool mint, and birthday cake. In the UK these are called Double Creme Oreos and are only available in original flavor. The Golden Double Stuf Oreo, featuring golden Oreo wafers with a double portion of original vanilla-flavored crème, was introduced in 2009.
- Football Oreo – Gridiron football-shaped Oreo cookies, introduced in 1976.
- Big Stuf Oreo – A short-lived variety of the Oreo cookie, introduced in 1987 but discontinued in 1991, these were several times the size of a normal Oreo. Sold individually, each Big Stuf contained 250 calories (1,000 kJ) and 13 grams of fat.
- Golden Oreo – Introduced in 2004, this has "golden" vanilla-flavored wafers on the outside of the cookie, as an alternative to the original chocolate-flavored wafers. Available with various flavors of crème filling including original, chocolate, lemon and birthday cake. The chocolate crème variety, being the reverse of the original cookie, was known as the Uh-Oh Oreo until 2007.
- Oreo Mini – Introduced in 1991, these are miniature bite-sized versions of the original Oreo cookie. After being discontinued in the late 1990s, they were re-released in 2000 along with the redesigned 2001 Dodge Caravan minivan as part of a promotional tie-in with Daimler AG. Their packaging in the 1990s consisted of a "miniaturized" version of the full-sized cardboard tray and box used in Oreo packaging at the time. Their revised packaging consists of an aluminum foil bag. Oreo Minis are available with various flavors of crème filling including original, chocolate, strawberry, and the new mint flavor which debuted in 2015. As well as the bagged version, they are also sold in Nabisco To-Go Cups, lidded plastic cups which fit into car cup-holders.
- Oreo Cakesters – Introduced in 2007, Oreo Cakesters are Oreo's version of a whoopie pie, soft chocolate snack cakes with vanilla, chocolate or peanut butter creme in the middle. They were discontinued in 2012. They returned in 2022 after a petition was started to have them brought back. The same year, Nabisco announced that Cakesters would be making a return in 2022, including Oreo and Nutter Butter varieties.
- Mega Stuf Oreo – Released in February 2013, the Mega Stuf variety is similar to Double Stuf, but with even more white crème filling. They come in both chocolate and golden wafer varieties.
- Oreo Thins – Introduced in July 2015, this is a thin version of the original Oreo cookie. Thins come in both chocolate and golden wafer varieties, with various crème flavors including chocolate, mint, lemon and tiramisu. Each cookie contains only 40 calories; they are 66% thinner than the original version.
- Chocolate Oreo – An Oreo cookie with chocolate crème filling.
- Mint Oreo – A variety of Oreo with two chocolate wafers separated by a mint-flavored crème filling.
- The Most Stuf – Introduced in January 2019, an initially limited edition Oreo with approximately four times the amount of crème filling of a standard Oreo. After two limited runs, it was quietly brought back as a permanent product in late 2020. While they were first offered in traditional Oreo packages and widely available when they were limited edition, the permanent version is only found in individual four-packs as well as 12 four-pack collections within convenience store settings.
- Gluten Free – Introduced in January 2021, available in both traditional and Double Stuf varieties
Special edition Double Stuf Oreo cookies are produced during springtime, and around Halloween and Christmas. These have colored frosting reflecting the current holiday: blue or yellow for springtime; orange for Halloween; and red or green for the Christmas holiday. One side of each seasonal cookie is stamped with an appropriate design; the spring cookies feature flowers, butterflies, etc., while the Halloween editions feature a jack o'lantern, ghost, cat, flock of bats, or broom-riding witch. The 2017 Halloween Oreo broke with this tradition, having orange-colored crème filling (albeit with classic vanilla flavor) but carrying no seasonal designs.
In some countries, Oreos come in a variety of flavors that are not familiar to the U.S. market. For example, Green Tea Oreos are only available in China and Japan, while Lemon Ice Oreos were only ever introduced in Japan or Blueberry Ice Cream available in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, there are alfajor Oreo cookies available in Argentina, composed of three Oreo cookies with vanilla filling between each, and covered in chocolate.
Images for kids
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The 2012 rainbow Oreo advertisement supporting Pride month.
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Peeps Oreo limited edition
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See also
In Spanish: Oreo para niños
