Cheez-It is a brand of cheese crackers manufactured by

Kellanova Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

through its

Sunshine Biscuits Sunshine Biscuits, formerly known as The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, was an independent American baker of cookies, crackers, and cereals. The company, which became a brand on a few products such as Cheez-It, was purchased by Keebler Company ...

division. Approximately , the rectangular crackers are made with

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

skim milk Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% to 0.3% fat. Background Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was re ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

History

The history of Cheez-It crackers began in 1907, when Weston Green founded the Green & Green Company in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. Green's company produced a variety of baked snack foods such as Dayton crackers, graham crackers, gingersnaps, and, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

hardtack Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of dense Cracker (food), cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyage ...

. On March 31, 1921, Green introduced Cheez-It crackers, commonly called Cheez-Its, as a new product. The company marketed the cracker as a "baked rarebit", a reference to a dish of melted cheese over toast. On May 23, 1921, the first Cheez-It logo was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the early 1930s, the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

-based Sunshine Biscuits (which was known as the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company until 1947) acquired the Green & Green Company, and with it came the Cheez-It cracker. Sunshine Biscuits expanded the distribution and popularity of Cheez-It crackers across the country. In 1996, Keebler acquired Sunshine Biscuits, and in 2001,

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

acquired Keebler, bringing Cheez-It crackers under its umbrella. In late 2023, Kellogg's spun off its North American cereal division as

WK Kellogg Co WK Kellogg Co is an American food manufacturing company, split from Kellogg's on October 2, 2023, and headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was formed in October 2023 as part of Kellogg's spin-off of its North American cereal business. ...

. The company's snack food business, including Cheez-It, became part of the renamed Kellanova. On August 14, 2024, Kellanova announced Mars Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire the Kellanova brand. The deal is anticipated to close early in 2025. Cheez-Its were officially launched in Canada in January 2020, as well as Australia in April 2024. Ireland and the United Kingdom followed in September 2024.

Cracker

Cheez-It crackers are rectangles, though they are often believed to be square shaped. Cheez-It crackers are made with actual cheese, and are marketed by Kellogg's as such.

Flavors and types

The original Cheez-It was the only product available until the 1980s; since then, there have been over 50 different varieties of Cheez-It flavors and products, including: * Buffalo Wing * Cheddar Jack * Cheez-It Big (a larger cracker more suitable for garnishing or dipping) * Cheese

Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

Chipotle A chipotle ( , ), or chilpotle, is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex and Southwestern United States dishes. It comes in differen ...

Cheddar * Duoz Sharp Cheddar & Parmesan * Duoz Bacon & Cheddar * Duoz

Jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

& Cheddar Jack * Extra Toasty * Extra Toasty Cheddar Jack * Extra Big * Extra Cheesy * Extra Crunchy * Gripz "mighty tiny" * Grooves Bold Cheddar * Grooves Sharp White Cheddar * Grooves Zesty Cheddar Ranch * Grooves Scorchin' Hot Cheddar * Hot & Spicy (without Tabasco sauce) * Italian Four Cheese *

Mozzarella Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy. It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names: * or mozz ...

* Original * Pepper Jack * Provolone (with real hickory smoke flavor added) * Puff'd * Queso Fundido * Reduced Fat * Reduced Fat White Cheddar * Scrabble Junior * Sizzlin' Bacon (limited availability) * Snack Mix * Snack Mix Double Cheese * Snack Mix Sweet & Salty * Snap'd * Snap'd Cheese Sour Cream & onion * Snap'd Double Cheese * Snap'd Jalapeño Jack * Snap'd Barbecue * White Cheddar * Whole Grain Cheez-It Grooves is available in Canada as Cheez-It Crunch.

Discontinued

Discontinued Cheez-It varieties include: *

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian language, Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German language, German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) with the title of ciin the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' o ...

* Atomic Cheddar * Baby Swiss * Barbecue & Cheddar Snack Mix * Chili Cheese * Colby * Duoz Smoked Cheddar and Monterey Jack * Duoz Zesty Queso and Cheddar Blanco * Hot & Spicy (with Tabasco sauce) * Hot & Spicy Grooves * Nacho *

Parmesan Parmesan (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian Types of cheese#Hard cheese, hard, Types of cheese#Granular, granular cheese produced from Dairy cattle, cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a Grana (cheese), grana-type cheese, along wit ...

Garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

* Romano * Smoked Cheddar * Snack Mix

Sriracha Sriracha ( or ; , ) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, pickled garlic, sugar, and salt. It was first produced in 1932 by a native of Si Racha, a town and district of Thailand, though ...

* Twists Buffalo Bleu * Zingz Chipotle Cheddar * Zingz Queso Fundido

References

External links