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Oreo

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This article is about the cookie. For other uses, see Oreo (disambiguation).
Oreo cookies.

Oreo is a trademark for a popular type of sandwich cookie, manufactured by the Nabisco Corporation. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream', sandwiched between two circular chocolate wafers.

Over 490 billion Oreo cookies have been sold since they were first introduced [1], making them the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

History

File:OreoLogo.jpg
Oreo logo

Oreos were introduced by Nabisco Corporation in February 1912 [2] to mainly target the British market, whose biscuits were seen by Nabisco to be too 'ordinary' [3]. Originally they were mound-shaped and available in two flavours; lemon meringue and cream, being sold by the pound for 30 cents, in novel tin cans with glass tops, which allowed customers to view the cookies [4].

A newer design was introduced in 1916, and as the cream filling was by far the more popular of the two available, Nabisco discontinued production of the lemon meringue filling during the 1920s. The modern-day Oreo was developed in 1952 by William A Turnier [5], to include the Nabisco logo [6].

There are many theories pointing to the origin of the name 'Oreo', including derivations from the French word 'Or', meaning gold (as early packaging was gold), or the Greek word 'Oreo', meaning mountain or hill (as the original Oreo was mound shaped). Other theories are that the 're' from cream was 'sandwiched' between the two Os from chocolate, or the word 'just seemed like a nice, melodic combination of sounds' [7].

Oreos are very similar to the Hydrox cookie manufactured by Sunshine, which was introduced in 1908, leading to speculation that Oreo obtained the idea from Sunshine. Having lost market share to Oreo for years, Hydrox cookies were withdrawn in 1996[8] (and subsequently reintroduced under the Droxies name three years later).

Production

According to a statement from Kim McMiller, an Associate Director of Consumer Relations, a two-stage process is used to make Oreo cookies. The base cake dough is formed into the familiar round cookies by a rotary mold at the entrance of a 300-foot-long oven. Key ingredients include sugar (later replaced with high fructose corn syrup), Dutch cocoa, and pure chocolate liquor purchased from outside suppliers in addition to flour which is milled at Nabisco's flour mill.[citation needed]

Consumption

As the modern design of the Oreo cookie allows it to be eaten in several ways, there is differing opinion on how to consume an Oreo. While some people eat the cookie without taking it apart, others like to 'disassemble' the Oreo into its constituent parts of wafers and filling. The Oreo may then be 'dunked' in milk. The official Oreo website recommends twisting the Oreo apart, licking out the cream and dunking the remaining biscuit in milk [9].

Varieties

Oreo Cookies

In addition to their traditional design of two chocolate wafers separated by a cream filling, Oreos have been produced in many different varieties since they were first introduced, and this list is only a guide to some of the more notable and recent types [10].

  • Uh-Oh Oreos are 'reverse' Oreos in that they comprise vanilla wafers and a chocolate cream filling.
  • Golden Oreos comprise vanilla cookies with a vanilla cream filling.
  • Mini Oreos are perfect scale versions of ordinary Oreos, being bite-sized.
  • Double Delight Oreos (introduced in 1987) have chocolate cookies with two fillings, notably peanut butter 'n chocolate, mint 'n cream, and coffee 'n cream flavours.
  • Flavored Oreos contain a sole filling in a variety of cream flavors, including peanut butter, mint, caramel and strawberry milkshake.
  • Double Stuf (sic) Oreos (introduced in 1975) have twice the normal amount of white cream filling.
  • Big Stuf Oreos had three times the amount of filing, but were discontinued.
  • White Fudge Oreos and Milk Chocolate Oreos are covered in either a layer of white fudge or chocolate respectively.
  • 100 Calorie Pack Oreos are miniature, thin, octagonal versions of oreos that do not contain cream-filling and come individually-portioned into 100 calorie pouches.
  • During springtime, around Halloween, and Christmas, special edition Double Stuf Oreos are produced with coloured frosting depicting the current holiday.

Many of these varieties are combined, producing, for example, "Chocolate Fudge Mint Covered", "Double Stuf Chocolate Creme", and so forth.

Trans-Saturated fat

On May 13, 2003, attorney Stephen Joseph filed a lawsuit charging Nabisco with using hydrogenated (or partially hydrogenated) oils (trans fats) to make the cookies. The suit was dropped as Nabisco considered replacing the hydrogenated oils with alternative oils. Joseph admitted he filed the lawsuit to call attention to the matter, and he considered his motion successful. As of January 2006, classic Oreo cookies are [11] no longer manufactured with hydrogenated oils. Other varieties may not have eliminated hydrogenated oils completely.

Variations and adaptations

  • Jell-O Oreo Pudding - Jell-O brand chocolate pudding at the bottom and on top, with vanilla in the middle
  • An Oreo variety with lemon-flavored filling was available until the 1920s. Some generic brand cookies still have such varieties.
  • There is a cereal called Oreo Os, with a little cream man wearing sunglasses on the box.
  • In Brazil, a very similar cookie to Oreo called "Negresco" is manufactured by Nestlé (picture, description).
  • Oreo Ice Cream. This is licensed by Breyers, Good Humor, and Klondike in the US, and Nestlé in Canada. Flavours are:
    • Oreo ice Cream (Blended Oreo cookies in Vanilla Ice Cream)
    • Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich (Extra Large Oreo wafers with the above mentioned ice cream in the middle)
    • Oreo Ice Cream Bar (Chocolate Ice Cream bar with the above mentioned Ice Cream)
    • Mint Oreo Ice Cream (Blended Oreo Cookies with Mint Ice Cream)

As an ingredient

The Oreo cookie is commonly used as an ingredient or adornment for other foods. Milkshakes containing Oreo cookies are popular, and deep-fried Oreo cookies, which are batter-dipped Oreos fried like funnel cakes, are sometimes sold at carnivals and fairs. Also, the development of premium ice creams has produced "cookies and cream" flavors, a vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate sandwich cookies included. Cookies 'n' Cream may or may not contain actual Nabisco Oreo cookies, however, and may instead have non-Nabisco brand chocolate sandwich cookies that are functionally identical, such as Droxies and an endless stream of "generic" brands. Many cookies similar to Oreo cookies are commonly referred to as "Oreo" despite not having an actual connection to Nabisco.

  • Cup o' dirt or Dirt pudding - This is a pudding dessert which has Oreos as an ingredient and includes crumbled Oreo cookies on top to resemble dirt. It sometimes contains gummy worms to continue with the 'dirt' image. May alternatively be called "worms 'n' dirt."
  • Deep Fried hot Oreo- only in fairs. Oreos are coated with a sweet batter then deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar.
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "The White Stuff" is about the cream "in the middle of an Oreo." It was a spoof of "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids on the Block.
  • In the 1976 remake of the film A Star Is Born the Caucasian singer played by Barbra Streisand is flanked by two African-American backing vocalists known as "The Oreos" (played by Venetta Fields and Clydie King).
  • Popular Science website has an article about an oreo fueled rocket [12]
  • In the Matt Groening cartoon, Futurama, Oreo's are used many times; an example is when Fry says "I don't like having discs shoved into me, unless they're oreos, and then only in the mouth."
  • In another Matt Groening cartoon, The Simpsons, Apu the Kwik E Mart owner forbid Marge from buying a pack of Oreos, claiming they were not made until 1896. This episode entitled Helter Shelter, the Simpson family were in a Reality TV show that was set in 1895, only items existing at that time are allowed to be bought.
  • In DC Comics' 1980s comic book series Justice League International, Keith Giffen gave the Martian Manhunter a fondness for Oreos, which was later picked up on by other writers. In Martian Manhunter #24 (November 2000), which shows this as a dangerous addiction, the name of the cookies are changed to "Chocos". Martian Manhunter's appearance in Smallville is foreshadowed by the discovery of a half-eaten Oreo.
  • Near the end of the 10th season of the WB's 7th Heaven, the twins open an 'Oreo Bar' with a mini fridge in their room, and tempt their relatives to share their secrets.
  • In the movie Rounders, Matt Damon's opponent at the poker table ' Teddy KGB' lets his decisions depend on the way his Oreos break when he takes them apart.
  • In the movie Lethal Weapon, Mel Gibson brings Patsy Kensit to his trailer, and asks whether she likes her Chili with or without crushed Oreos.
  • In a scene in the movie Big, Tom Hanks can be seen splitting apart Oreos to eat the fondant filling, before discarding the rest. [13].
  • In the movie Every Which Way But Loose, Clint Eastwood's orang-utan Clyde was a fan of Oreos
  • In the 1998 remake of the movie Parent Trap, Hallie and Annie both love Oreos, and love eating them with peanut butter.[14].

Trivia

  • Oreos are produced in batch production, where each batch uses 18 million pounds of cocoa, and 47 million pounds of crème filling, therefore making an Oreo 71% biscuit and 29% crème [15].
  • If every Oreo cookie ever made were stacked on top of each other (over 490 billion), the pile would reach to the Moon and back more than six times [16].
  • The Nabisco facility in Chicago, is the largest cookie-producing factory in the world; over 4.6 billion Oreos were made in one year alone [17].
  • Nabisco was insistent that the mini cookies, measuring an inch in diameter and weighing just one ounce, were exact replicas of regularly-sized Oreos, including their ability to be twisted apart [18].
  • Depending on the area of manufacture, Oreo cookies may or may not be vegan.
  • Oreo is also a racial slur for black people acting white or being around white people, as well as for children of racially mixed parents.

References

  1. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo.cfm
  2. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo_how.cfm
  3. ^ http://www.inventhelp.com/Newsletter/2006_10/cookie_month.asp
  4. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo_how.cfm
  5. ^ http://www.inventhelp.com/Newsletter/2006_10/cookie_month.asp
  6. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo_how.cfm
  7. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo_where.cfm
  8. ^ Lukas, Paul. "Oreos to Hydrox: Resistance Is Futile." Business 2.0 March 1999
  9. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo_fun.cfm
  10. ^ http://www.kraft.com/100/innovations/oreoprod.html
  11. ^ http://www.bantransfats.com/theoreocase.html
  12. ^ http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/600152d7d441b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
  13. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bigpg13hinson_a0c8e9.htm
  14. ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/dvd/reviews/df/20020514/102138120006.html?id=1800028206
  15. ^ http://www.amusingfacts.com/facts/Detail/oreo-factory.html
  16. ^ http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/products_oreo.cfm
  17. ^ http://www.amusingfacts.com/facts/Detail/oreo-factory.html
  18. ^ http://www.kraft.com/100/innovations/oreoprod.html
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