Cheetos
It's from 1948, before you were born.
- Maker
- Frito-Lay
- Type
- Cheese puffs/curls
- Debuted
- 1948
- Note
- mascot Chester Cheetah
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About
As of 2026, it's 78 years old.
Cheetos are less a snack than a binding agreement to have orange fingers for the next thirty minutes. The cheese dust — officially, wonderfully, named 'Cheetle' — is a feature, not a bug, and washing it off is widely regarded as optional.
Around since 1948 and fronted by Chester Cheetah, the most laid-back predator in cartoon history, they come crunchy or in the unsettling melt-in-your-mouth puffed form that fans defend with genuine passion.
Cheesy, crunchy, and permanently incriminating, Cheetos are the only snack that leaves a paper trail.
Cheetos through the years
Created
One of the first cheese-flavored snacks to reach a national audience.
Chester Cheetah arrives
The cool cartoon cat becomes the brand's mascot.
