Good news for sweet toothed vegans everywhere: Hydrox, the cookies our dairy-eschewing college friends used to call “Orthodox,” are coming back after their January disappearance from store shelves.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news yesterday that the main competitor to Nabisco’s Oreos will return to store shelves, to the delight, we’re sure, of adolescent vegans everywhere. But the reinstatement seems to have more fuel behind it than just that specific counter-cultural subset. According to the Journal:
Bowing to more than 1,300 phone inquiries, an online petition with more than 1,000 signatures and Internet chat sites lamenting the demise of the snack, Kellogg Co. has decided to temporarily relaunch Hydrox, the left-for-dead cookie.
“These loyalists can be proud to know they’ve been heard,” says Brad Davidson, head of Kellogg’s snack division.
While the cookies’ return is officially temporary, Davidson told the Journal it could be permanent, “if it takes off and there turns out to be a real affinity for it.”
But will that affinity come from the same places? The constituency with which we’re most familiar–the college vegans–may be out of luck. Apparently Kellog is changing the recipe somewhat from the original Hydrox:
[Davidson] doesn’t guarantee the relaunched version will have the same recipe. One difference: no trans fat. “We maintained all the good we could and took out a little bad,” he says, noting this year marks Hydrox’s 100th anniversary.
Well, no trans-fat is a plus, but there’s nothing else said about replaced or added ingredients. Vegans, you’ll just have to see the label once the cookies hit the shelves. One thing’s for sure, though. If these things stay dairy-free, Tofutti Cuties will have a serious competitor.
Breaking News: Hydrox Cookies are coming back! [Slashfood]
Hydrox Redux: Cookie Duals Oreo, Again [Wall Street Journal]
The Hydrox Cookie Page [Official Site]
[Photo: via The Hydrox Cookie Page
