50 Fun Facts About Oreo

In which year was the Oreo introduced?

Nabisco has owned it ever since, and Mondelez International has owned Nabisco since 2012.

Which earlier cookie was the Oreo an imitation of?

It outsold the original so thoroughly that most people now assume the imitation came the other way round.

In which year did that rival cookie appear, four years before the Oreo?

Sunshine Biscuits made it, and it survived on shelves for decades as the cookie people thought was the copy.

Since which year has the Oreo been the highest-selling cookie brand in the world?

It is sold in more than 100 countries, with local flavours that never reach the American market.

One theory says the name is Greek for 'mountain', because the cookie was meant to be what?

Other theories point to the French for gold, after the original gold-coloured tin, or to a laurel genus matching the wreath in the early design.

In which New York City neighbourhood was the first Oreo made?

The block of Ninth Avenue outside the old factory was ceremonially renamed Oreo Way in 2002.

The first Oreo was sold on 6 March 1912 to a grocer in which city?

They went out by the pound in novelty metal canisters with clear glass tops, so shoppers could see the stack.

What was the cookie renamed in 1921?

It became the Oreo Creme Sandwich in 1948 and finally the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie in 1974.

Who designed the embossed pattern still used on the cookie's face, in 1952?

His design worked the Nabisco logo into the wreath, replacing a 1924 pattern.

Which flavour of filling was tried in 1920 and dropped four years later?

After that the plain white filling was the only option for several decades.

Which Nabisco food scientist developed the modern filling?

He held five patents tied to the cookie and also created the dark and white chocolate covered versions.

Which ingredient was taken out of the filling in the early 1990s?

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil replaced it, which is what made kosher certification possible.

What did that swap allow Nabisco to obtain?

It was a long and expensive process, and it opened a market the animal-fat recipe had closed off.

In which year did Nabisco remove trans fat from the cookie?

Non-hydrogenated vegetable oil went in as one of the main ingredients instead.

What was unusual about the rainbow Pride cookie Oreo advertised in June 2012?

Kraft stood by the campaign, and a run of holiday adverts followed, including one for the Delta Aquariids meteor shower.

What did Oreo tweet when the lights went out at Super Bowl XLVII?

It was retweeted almost 15,000 times and is still cited as the moment real-time marketing proved itself.

A 2022 study in Physics of Fluids proved what about the cookie?

However fast you twist, the creme sticks to one wafer, which the researchers called an inescapable result of how it bonds.

In which year was Double Stuf introduced?

The same year the cookie got its current official name, the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie.

What was the golden cookie with chocolate filling called until 2007?

Golden wafers with chocolate filling are the original cookie turned inside out, which is exactly how it was sold.

Oreo Minis were re-released in 2000 as a promotional tie-in with which vehicle?

Their 1990s packaging had been a shrunken copy of the full-size cardboard tray and box.

How much thinner than the original is an Oreo Thin?

Each one comes to 40 calories, and the range runs to mint, lemon and tiramisu fillings.

Which flavour is sold only in China and Japan?

Argentina gets an alfajor version instead: three cookies stacked with vanilla filling and dipped in chocolate.

How many Oreos had been sold worldwide by the cookie's centenary in 2012?

By 2017 more than 40 billion were being produced every year across 18 countries.

How many main ingredients are in a classic Oreo?

The recipe has barely changed in a century, even as the fats in it were swapped twice.

Which company first brought Oreos to the Indian market, in 2011?

European Oreos, meanwhile, are baked in Spain and at a Cadbury factory in the UK.

After losing the Oreo licence, Japan's Yamazaki launched a rival called what?

It is baked in the Ibaraki Prefecture plant that used to make the real thing.

What colour is the filling in the Halloween special edition?

Christmas gets red or green, and springtime blue or yellow with flowers and butterflies stamped on one side.

In how many countries are Oreos sold?

Production runs in 18 countries, with plants in India, Indonesia, Bahrain, China, Spain, the UK and Russia among others.

When was Mega Stuf released?

It is a Double Stuf with the filling pushed further still, in both chocolate and golden wafers.

In which year did a gluten-free version arrive?

It launched in both the traditional and Double Stuf formats.

Oreo Minis were first introduced in which year?

They vanished in the late 1990s before the minivan promotion brought them back.

Why are Oreos popular with vegans despite the dairy-sounding filling?

Nabisco still warns about cross-contamination from dairy products made on the same lines.

In which year was the name Oreo trademarked?

The trademark was filed on 14 March, eight days after the first sale to a New Jersey grocer.

What were the first Oreos sold in?

They were sold loose by the pound, so the display tin mattered as much as the packaging.

What decorative element ringed the original cookie face?

The laurel wreath is the basis of one theory that the name comes from Oreodaphne, a genus of the laurel family.

Which street was ceremonially named after the cookie in 2002?

It runs past the old Chelsea factory, now the Chelsea Market complex.

How many Oreo cookies were being produced annually by 2017?

They come out of 18 countries, with Asian markets served from India, Indonesia, Bahrain and China.

Which cookie brand does Nabisco's parent company call the world's best selling?

Distribution keeps widening, which is how a 1912 imitation ended up outselling everything on earth.

Which company has owned the Oreo brand since 2012?

It came with the Nabisco acquisition, and Kraft had run the brand before the split.

What did the Golden Oreo use in place of the chocolate biscuit?

It arrived in 2004 and now comes with original, chocolate, lemon and birthday cake fillings.

Oreo O's breakfast cereal was launched in 1997 by which cereal maker?

The idea came from an Ogilvy & Mather ad employee. A 2001 reformulation added real creme filling, and an 'Extreme Creme Taste' version had creme-flavoured marshmallows.

After being discontinued in 2007, Oreo O's cereal survived in only which country?

A corporate split left Post and Kraft unable to co-brand the cereal, so it vanished elsewhere. Post finally revived it in the US in June 2017.

The 1908 rival cookie that Oreo imitated took its name from which two chemical elements?

The name was meant to evoke the purity of water. It was largely discontinued in 1999, reformulated as 'Droxies', and revived by Leaf Brands in 2015.

The Most Stuf, launched in January 2019, had roughly how many times a standard Oreo's creme?

It began as a limited edition, stacking even more filling than Mega Stuf. Oreo's crème-flavour team of six is so secretive the company will not reveal the group's name.

Oreo Cakesters, introduced in 2007, are Oreo's version of which soft snack?

The soft chocolate cakes came with vanilla, chocolate or peanut butter creme. After a hiatus they returned in 2022 alongside a Nutter Butter version.

In 2020 Nabisco built a bunker to protect the Oreo recipe from an asteroid. Where was it?

The stunt riffed on the Global Seed Vault nearby, with Mylar-wrapped cookies and powdered milk inside. The asteroid, 2018 VP1, missed Earth in November 2020.

A 2015 decision to move some Oreo production to which country sparked a US boycott?

The AFL-CIO backed the boycott in 2016 and published a guide to spotting which Mondelez products were made abroad.

The first British-made Oreos came from a Cadbury factory in which city, announced in 2011?

The Cadbury Trebor Bassett plant in South Yorkshire got the job. European Oreos are otherwise made in Spain.

Which supermarket chain first brought Oreos to Britain?

For several years it was the only UK chain to stock them, until Kraft launched the cookie nationwide in May 2008.

In which month and year did the Oreo McFlurry become a permanent UK McDonald's menu item?

It had been a rotating special during the chain's Great Tastes of America promotions, and was already on sale in the US and elsewhere.