Cheetos were invented in 1948 by Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin, who cooked early test batches in the Frito Company's research and development kitchen in Dallas, Texas.

The cheese-flavored snack sold quickly, but Doolin did not have the production or distribution capacity to support a nationwide launch. This led Doolin to partner with potato chip businessman Herman W. Lay for marketing and distribution, and Cheetos were introduced nationally in the U.S. in 1948, along with a potato product called Fritatos.

The success of Cheetos prompted Doolin and Lay to merge their two companies in 1961, forming Frito-Lay Inc.  At the time, Cheetos was one of four large snack food brands produced by the company, which had annual revenues of $127 million. Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo in 1965, prompting further distribution of Cheetos outside of North America.

Ingredients

For allergens please see ingredients listed in bold.

Maize, Rapeseed Oil, Flamin' Hot Flavour [Flavourings (contains Soya, Wheat), Sugar, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium 5'-Ribonucleotides), Fructose, Salt, Dried Onion, Soya Sauce Powder (contains Wheat), Hydrolysed Soya Protein, Dried Garlic, Colour (Paprika Extract)