The Surprising Reason Why Ritz Crackers Have Scalloped Edges

Few crackers are more iconic than Ritz. The wafers' scalloped edges, seven holes, and golden-brown exterior are instantly recognizable to anybody who grew up eating them. The simple snack is pleasing to look at, but its design goes beyond aesthetics. According to a TikTok from the official Ritz Crackers account, the cracker doubles as a tool for cutting cheese.

This video, reported by Nerdist, shows someone at Ritz using the scalloped-edged cracker as an improvised knife. After rolling the ridges across a thin slice of Swiss cheese, they are able to easily pull the slice apart. The cheese square is the perfect size for serving on a Ritz cracker, and after snack time, there are no dirty utensils to clean.

Hacks and secrets related to popular food brands are popular on TikTok, but they aren't always accurate. This video is different from most: It comes from the official Ritz TikTok account, which puts some weight behind the claims. Still, not everyone is convinced of the cracker's hidden purpose. As Nerdist points out, the cheese in the video is pretty thin to begin with, and the person still has to pull the slice apart after pushing into it fairly hard. For most snacking situations, you would still need a knife to cut the cheese.

Do the scalloped edges on Ritz make it a better cheese-cutting tool than other crackers? Possibly. It's also possible the design was chosen to give the snack a sense of class. During the Great Depression, Americans were looking for fancy items they could enjoy on a meager budget. The snack's upper-crust name was chosen with this in mind. Here are more snack foods that have been around for decades or longer.