A number of months in the past, a clip from the podcast The Consumers went viral after visitor Andy Woodhull made the declare that Cheez-Its manufactured in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, are higher than Cheez-Its from different factories.
He claims that if a serial quantity on the underside of the field begins with the letter Okay, that signifies that the Cheez-Its come from this superior KC facility. He means that every time searching for Cheez-Its, it’s best to at all times examine for that letter Okay; that’s how you realize you have got the great things.
The put up brought on fairly a stir, with many individuals on the Web confirming that they might style a distinction in containers of Cheez-Its. Some even detailed arguments with relations about how one field tastes “off” and never just like the Cheez-Its they know and love.
Seeing this, I assumed it could be quite simple to check. Simply go to the grocery retailer and purchase two containers of Cheez-Its: one with a Okay serial quantity and one with no Okay. In line with the Web, the opposite Cheez-It manufacturing unit is in Cary, North Carolina, and it claims to be the world’s major producer of the cracker. So I used to be ready to have a troublesome time discovering a field with a Okay serial quantity.
Like a madman, I spent 20 minutes at my native grocery retailer trying on the backside of each single field and package deal of Cheez-Its on the cabinets. Each single one in all their serial numbers began with a Okay. A employee got here as much as me and requested me if I used to be alright. I ran away.
I went to different grocery shops and comfort shops in my space. It was Okay’s all the way in which down. How can this be? Folks on the Web are completely sure concerning the variations in style from field to field. I made a decision that the one solution to actually know if a Cheez-It got here from Kansas Metropolis was to go to the precise manufacturing unit. I piled myself and my canine Sassy into the automobile and drove to Kansas Metropolis.
I reached out to Cheez-It to see if they’d enable me to take a tour of their Kansas Metropolis manufacturing unit. Sadly, they might not accommodate a tour, however they did give me a complete load of free snacks for the journey, in addition to a large Cheez-It-shaped pool float. Each containers of Cheez-Its and the float had the Okay serial quantity.
At each fuel station cease alongside my journey, I might examine the Cheez-Its. All of them had been Okay’s. I assumed that possibly as a result of I used to be west of the Mississippi, the KC manufacturing unit provided that a part of the nation, and that I might discover some non-Okay packages in the direction of the east. I reached Kansas Metropolis and stood outdoors the manufacturing unit, questioning what magic inside made these crackers so good.
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania — my search continued all the way in which to my ancestral homeland of Philadelphia. I nonetheless couldn’t discover a Cheez-It field that didn’t have a Okay serial quantity. My household begged me to cease this quixotic search; they might see the insanity forming in my thoughts. I shrugged them off and set out on the highway once more, leaving them with Cheez-Its to remind them of me.
Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas — solely Okay’s. By the point I bought to New Mexico, I had given up hope. I used to be not going to discover a field of Cheez-Its made in Cary, North Carolina. I returned to my residence in Los Angeles a defeated man, having pushed practically 6,000 miles.
Within the days following the journey, I used to be nonetheless disturbed. All these individuals on the Web declare they will style a distinction between Cheez-Its. But when all Cheez-It packages have a Okay serial quantity, which, in accordance with the viral podcast clip, means they’re the very best of the very best, how is there a distinction? In desperation, I emailed Cheez-It once more.
Was it really enjoyable? Maybe that was a bit of misinform get the solutions I wanted. Two days later, I acquired a response from Cheez-It.
My actuality was shattered. I spent three weeks looking out the bottoms of Cheez-It containers, when the reply to all my questions was merely on the highest. I went again to my native grocery retailer, the place this complete search all started.
There they had been, clear as day. A “Okay” and a “P.” Standing within the aisle, I wept. The identical employee from three weeks earlier than approached me, asking if I used to be alright. I ran screaming from the shop, fingers stuffed with the 2 containers of Cheez-Its.
As soon as residence, I compelled my roommate, Rekha, to do a style check with me. Visually, the Cheez-Its look precisely the identical. Are you able to guess which cracker is from the place? Rekha and I tasted each with a palate cleanser in between them. Was the KC cracker a bit of tangier and cheesier? Was the NC cracker a bit of saltier? It was onerous to say.
We did a blind style check. I used to be capable of guess which cracker was which, however Rekha was not. The outcomes, finally, had been inconclusive. I believe if I did 100 blind style exams, the outcomes can be 50/50.
What’s reality? Are we offered with data each day that we simply settle for as true? Does our collective unconsciousness create recollections concerning the style of Cheez-Its till it’s manifested into the world as a actuality? Clearly, this endeavor has led me to ponder a few of life’s nice questions. And I should hold dwelling with the well-known Operation Ivy lyric on the forefront of my thoughts: “All I do know is that I don’t know nothing.”
However not less than for now, this thriller concerning the Okay serial quantity on a Cheez-It field will be put to relaxation.
If you cannot get your fingers on Kansas Metropolis manufacturing unit Cheez-Its, why not make your personal by downloading the free Tasty app? No subscription (or 6,000-mile search) required.