Premium (Premium Saltine Crackers) is a brand of
soda cracker
A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square, cracker, made from white flour, sometimes yeast (although many are yeast-free), fat, and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surfa ...
produced by
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco' ...
, which were first introduced in 1876. It is known as Premium Plus (Premium Plus Salted Tops) in Canada, under the Christie (formerly, Mr. Christie) banner. In the United States it is marketed as "Original Premium."
It is currently sold in these flavours: Unsalted (Original), Salted, Five Grain, and Whole Wheat.
The crackers are square in shape but round versions have been marketed as well.
Packaging
The crackers are typically sold in boxes containing 4 "sleeves" of crackers sealed in plastic inside, for the home consumer. Larger packages containing 8 or 12 "sleeves" are also available. Bulk packages of individualized servings containing two or four crackers are also available, and are frequently used at restaurants. Occasionally the crackers are sold in tin cans.
Boxes are white in the United States, and either red or brown in Canada; the brown boxes are used for
whole wheat
A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.
As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated wit ...
varieties.
Controversy
In 1989,
Phil Sokolof
Phil Sokolof (December 15, 1921 – April 15, 2004) was a multi-millionaire businessman and campaigner against heart disease. In the 1980s and early 1990s, his fight for heart health targeted the restaurant chain McDonald's. He is credited with u ...
, an Omaha millionaire published ads in the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' accusing Nabisco of including unhealthy
saturated fat
A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...
s in its products. At the time, Nabisco Saltine Crackers still contained
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. , a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.
Health Crusader Targets Nabisco in Latest Battle Over Use of Tropical Oils
from the LA Times, 2 March 1989. At some point in the 1990s the company switched to a more vegetarian-friendly vegetable oil.
References
External links
*
Mondelez International brands
Crackers (food)
1876 introductions
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