Hydrox is a creme-filled

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

sandwich cookie A sandwich cookie ( US and Canada), also known as a sandwich biscuit ( UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa), is a type of cookie made from two cookies with a filling between them. Typically the hard, thin cookies known as biscu ...

currently owned and manufactured by

Leaf Brands Leaf Brands, LLC is a candy company based in Newport Coast, Newport Beach, California. The original Leaf International (also known as the "Leaf Candy Company") started in the 1940s. Leaf International was once the fourth largest candy producer i ...

. It debuted in the United States in 1908, and was manufactured by

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 ...

for over 90 years. Hydrox was largely discontinued in 1999, three years after Sunshine was acquired by

Keebler The Keebler Company is an American cookie and former cracker manufacturer. Founded in 1853, it has produced numerous baked snacks, advertised with the Keebler Elves. Keebler had marketed its brands such as Cheez-It (which bear the Sunshine Biscu ...

, which was later acquired by

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 ...

which in turn sold the cookie line and the rights to the Keebler name to

Ferrero SpA Ferrero International SpA ( , ), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second ...

. In September 2015, the product was reintroduced by

Oreo Oreo (; stylized in all caps) is an American brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits with a sweet fondant filling. Oreos were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco, and the brand has been owned by Mondelez International since its me ...

was created in 1912 as an imitation of Hydrox. Oreo eventually surpassed Hydrox in popularity, which resulted in the Hydrox cookies being perceived by many as an imitation of Oreo, despite the opposite being the case. Compared to Oreos, Hydrox cookies have a less sweet filling and a crunchier cookie shell that is less soggy when dipped in milk.

History

In 1908, the cookie's creation was inspired by "purity and goodness", with a name derived from the hydrogen and oxygen elements within the water molecule. Hydrox100 jeh

was purchased by Keebler in 1996, and in 1999, Keebler replaced Hydrox with a similar but reformulated product called "Droxies". Keebler was acquired by Kellogg's in 2001, and Kellogg's removed Droxies from the market in 2003. Kellogg's then marketed a similar chocolate sandwich cookie under the

Famous Amos Famous Amos is a brand of cookies founded in Los Angeles in 1975 by Wally Amos. History Wallace "Wally" Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, on July 1, 1936. In 1948, he moved to New York City to live with his aunt where they ...

brand, along with sandwich cookies of other flavors, but also discontinued the line. On the cookie's 100th anniversary, Kellogg's resumed distribution of Hydrox under the Sunshine label in late August 2008 in direct response to 1,300 phone calls from fans as well as an online petition with 1,000 signatures, a Hydrox fan website with the essay "Nonconformists don't eat Oreos", and dozens of forum posts, asking that production resume. The cookies were available nationally for a limited time, and less than one year later Kellogg's removed Hydrox from their web site. The Carvel ice cream franchise sold ice-cream goods manufactured with Hydrox cookie crumbs until 2012. Carvel used the cookie's all-

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

status as a selling point, because the original

recipe used

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

. The cookies were not specifically mentioned by name on the Carvel website, but they were identified as "hydrox" icon the in-store posters. Carvel currently uses Oreo cookies in its ice cream goods. In 2014, Leaf Brands registered the "Hydrox" trademark, which had been abandoned by former owner Kellogg's. Leaf began production of its version of Hydrox on September 4, 2015, at the company’s facility in

Vernon, California Vernon is a city south of downtown Los Angeles, California, the nearest separate city to downtown Los Angeles. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States census, the least of any incorporated city in the state. Its population nearly doub ...

. In 2017, the recipe was changed to remove artificial flavors that had been used for 50 years and the company obtained non-

GMO A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

certification. Leaf Brands filed a complaint with the US

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

in 2018 against

Mondelez International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...

, maker of Oreo cookies, for hiding Hydrox cookies from customers on store shelves.

References

External links

official website
{{Kellogg Company Brand name cookies Sandwich cookies Products introduced in 1908 Kosher food

History

See also

References

External links