(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The Grand Rapids, Michigan man widely credited with spearheading the creation of Pop Tarts more than 60 years ago has died at the age of 96.
William “Bill” Post, who passed away Feb. 10, was working at the Grand Rapids baking company that later would be known as Keebler in 1963 when executives at Kellogg’s asked their colleagues to create a pastry with a shelf life that could be heated in a toaster. After some research and development, the result was Pop Tarts.
Although Post would get the lion’s share of the credit for troubleshooting the product, he always insisted it was a team effort, according to his online obituary. It quotes Post as saying: “I assembled an amazing team that developed Kellogg’s concept of a shelf-stable toaster pastry into a fine product that we could bring to market in the span of just four months.”
Kellogg’s eventually bought Keebler, and Post would serve as a consultant to Kellogg’s for years. It should be noted that the official Pop Tarts website credits “`Doc’ Joe Thompson and his kitchen crew" with the product's invention.
The product was released in Cleveland in 1964 with four flavors -- strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon and apple currant – before going national. The iced, or frosted, version of Pop Tarts did not debut until 1967.
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