After driving on 95 to dinner, I often order an 84 and a 118 somewhere around 7. Eating a Chinese meal starts out as a numbers game, but it always ends with some words of wisdom found in a fortune cookie. When a recent cookie didn’t make me feel very fortunate, I contacted Peking Noodle [...]

Many names come to mind when you hear the words Pop Star. I wanted to learn more about one of my favorites that happens to really suck. That’s why I contacted the manufacturers of Dum Dum Pops to inquire about the star status this pop has achieved that puts it in a lollipop league of [...]

Jelly Belly jelly beans. It is fun to say and even more fun to eat. I wrote Jelly Belly Candy Company, makers of “the world’s #1 gourmet jelly bean,” to get a flavor for the company… Dear Jelly Belly Jelly Beaners: Jelly Belly is the best name for jelly beans! How did you come up [...]

The only snack food I have on my Bucket List is popcorn. One variety I’ve never tried — and didn’t know much about — is black popcorn. I shot off this letter to Fireworks Popcorn just for the hull of it to see if they would enlighten me… Dear Popcorn Poppers: I’d like to learn [...]

When it comes to nuts, the first name that pops into my mind is Planters. Since I had a few questions that were driving me nuts, I wondered what kind of answers they’d shell out… Dear Peanut Planters: I can’t even think of the name of another peanut brand besides Planters. But one thing I [...]

I had some heated words to share with Just Born about their popular candy Hot Tamales… Dear Candy Creators: I’ve got the hots for your Hot Tamales chewy cinnamon-flavored candies. I know you sell Hot Tamales and Hot Tamales FIRE. Do you have any studies that show the differential in heat generated in one’s mouth [...]

After reading the Quaker Chewy 90 Calorie Granola Bars box, there was something about the ingredients that didn’t make sense. I wrote The Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo, to get to the bottom of it (among other things)… Dear Quaker Bakers, You say your Quaker Chewy 90 Calorie Bars are, “Made Without High-Fructose [...]

There are a plethora of pretzel styles to satisfy every palate. Into long and thick? Pretzel Rods! Desire short and thin? Pretzel Sticks! Feeling short and chunky? Pretzel Nuggets! Not to mention regular, braided, salted, unsalted, organic, sourdough, soft, hard, honey wheat, chocolate or yogurt covered and peanut butter filled. But Extra Dark? What kind [...]

There’s one thing about popcorn that annoys me. I wrote Weaver Popcorn Company to see if they had a solution… Dear Popcorn Poppers: I read that Weaver Popcorn Company produces over 30% of the world’s popcorn. Boy, you are just popping up everywhere! With all that clout, can’t you get movie theaters to sell Pop [...]

There’s no question that product packaging is very important. But should the package ever get top billing over the product? It does with SunChips, so I contacted Frito-Lay to learn more about why… Dear SunChippers: Congratulations on creating the World’s First 100% Compostable Chip Package! How big is this news? Is it big enough to [...]