Samuel J. Porcello (May 23, 1935Samuel J Porcello in Toms River, New Jersey; ''U.S. Public Records Index'' – May 12, 2012) was an American

food scientist Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the development ...

who worked at

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

for 34 years. He is particularly noted for his work on the modern

Oreo Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...

cookie. Porcello held five

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s directly related to the Oreo. In particular, Porcello was the inventor of the white Oreo cookie creme-filling. His work earned him the nickname, "Mr. Oreo."

Early life

Porcello was born and raised in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City and regional commercial hub of North Jersey. ...

. He and his family moved to

Toms River, New Jersey Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

for a short time during his early career. He then worked for the former The Charms Company, a candy

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

. He was nearly hired by a major

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

company, but his candidacy ended when the company learned that Porcello was

color blind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

Career

Porcello joined Nabisco after his rejection by the cosmetics industry because he was color-blind. When he was hired, Nabisco promised that he could eventually earn a salary of up to $12,000 per year if he was successful. He began his Nabisco career at the company's plant in

Fair Lawn, New Jersey Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and a bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 34,940, which constituted a 7.7% increase from 32, ...

. He later worked at Nabisco's corporate headquarters in

East Hanover, New Jersey East Hanover Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 11,157, reflecting a decline of 236 (−2.1%) from the 11,393 counted in the 2000 Census, whic ...

. Porcello joined Nabisco's research and development department, which develops new lines of snacks. He was considered one of the world's leading experts on cocoa, which is used to make chocolate. He was given the title, "principal scientist," during his career at Nabisco. The Oreo cookie, has been sold since 1912 (450 billion Oreos have been sold since their introduction), but it was Porcello who invented the modern creme-filling for Oreos and Double Stuffed Oreos, which have extra filling. In total, Porcello held five patents related to his work on the Oreo. He also developed a product line of Oreos enrobed in

white chocolate White chocolate is a confectionery typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter. It is pale ivory colored, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk and dark chocolates. It is solid at room temperature because the melting point of cocoa ...

and dark chocolate. Porcello found the particular type of chocolate which he used for chocolate-covered Oreos while attending a food industry trade show in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Aside from his work with the Oreo, Porcello developed other Nabisco snack products, including

SnackWells SnackWell's was a brand of foods introduced in 1992. Its products used to include fat-free cookies of a variety of flavors including creme, shortbread, and devil's food cake. Previously a Nabisco brand, it was later sold to Back to Nature Food ...

. His position required him to travel extensively in search of new potential products and ingredients. According to his son, Curtis, Porcello often brought new snacks home with him to see how his family liked or disliked the potential new products. Porcello was not a huge eater of Oreo cookies, preferring to eat the cookie without dunking it in

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

Later life

Porcello left the company as its principal food scientist in 1993 after 34 years. Additionally, he was a longtime volunteer with

ACDI/VOCA ACDI/VOCA is an international development nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., United States, that fosters broad-based economic growth, increased living standards, and community development. Incorporated in 1965, ACDI/VOCA's mission i ...

, for which he helped create a food and program and company in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Sam Porcello died May 12, 2012, at the age of 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porcello, Sam 1935 births 2012 deaths American food scientists Nabisco People from Toms River, New Jersey People from Newark, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey