Samuel J. Porcello (May 23, 1935Samuel J Porcello in Toms River, New Jersey; ''U.S. Public Records Index'' – May 12, 2012) was an American food scientist who worked at Nabisco for 34 years. He is particularly noted for his work on the modern Oreo

cookie A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, n ...

. Porcello held five patents directly related to the Oreo. In particular, Porcello was the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of the white Oreo cookie creme-filling. His work earned him the nickname, "Mr. Oreo."

Early life

Porcello was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He also lived in Wayne, New Jersey. He and his family moved to Toms River, New Jersey, in 1974, where he resided for the rest of his life. Porcello initially worked as a teacher for a short time during his early career. He then worked for the former The Charms Company, a

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

manufacturer. He was nearly hired by a major cosmetics company, but his candidacy ended when the company learned that Porcello was color blind.

Career

Porcello joined Nabisco after his rejection by the cosmetics industry because he was color-blind. When he was hired, Nabisco promised that he could eventually earn a salary of up to $12,000 per year if he was successful. He began his Nabisco career at the company's plant in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He later worked at Nabisco's

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with important tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corpor ...

in East Hanover, New Jersey. Porcello joined Nabisco's

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

department, which develops new lines of

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

s. He was considered one of the world's leading experts on

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

, which is used to make chocolate. He was given the title, "principal scientist," during his career at Nabisco. The Oreo cookie, has been sold since 1912 (450 billion Oreos have been sold since their introduction), but it was Porcello who invented the modern creme-filling for Oreos and Double Stuffed Oreos, which have extra filling. In total, Porcello held five patents related to his work on the Oreo. He also developed a

product line Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...

of Oreos enrobed in white chocolate and dark chocolate. Porcello found the particular type of chocolate which he used for chocolate-covered Oreos while attending a food industry trade show in Europe. Aside from his work with the Oreo, Porcello developed other Nabisco snack products, including SnackWells. His position required him to travel extensively in search of new potential products and ingredients. According to his son, Curtis, Porcello often brought new snacks home with him to see how his family liked or disliked the potential new products. Porcello was not a huge eater of Oreo cookies, preferring to eat the cookie without dunking it in milk.

Later life

Porcello left the company as its principal food scientist in 1993 after 34 years. Additionally, he was a longtime volunteer with ACDI/VOCA, for which he helped create a food and program and company in Thailand. Sam Porcello died May 12, 2012, at the age of 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porcello, Sam 1935 births 2012 deaths American food scientists Nabisco People from Toms River, New Jersey People from Newark, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey