Why You Should Be Buying Oreos At Costco And Not The Grocery Store

Trends come and go in the world of grocery store snacks, but Oreos seem to remain iconic. The dark chocolate sandwich cookies were invented in 1912, and Americans have been dipping them in milk, twisting off their tops, and licking the creamy centers ever since. Not all Oreos are created alike, however, especially if you shop at Costco, which sells the classic cookies with slightly different ingredients than the version you'd find on regular grocery store shelves.

Oreo ingredients have been closely scrutinized over the years, especially by vegans and other people with dietary restrictions to dairy and animal products, and the cookies have undergone multiple formula changes to phase out components like lard and trans fats. The main difference between Costco Oreos and those sold in other grocery stores, however, comes down to two simple ingredients: sugar and flavorings. Costco's cookies are made with invert sugar and natural flavorings, and classic Oreos are made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and artificial flavoring.

Invert sugar and high fructose corn syrup are similar types of liquid sugar, and are used to make many of the same products like cookies and soda. The two types of sugar have different glucose-to-fructose ratios, however. Invert sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose, while HFCS is usually 55% fructose and 40% glucose, although there are different variations of HFCS, which are delineated by number (e.g.: HFCS 44, HFCS 55). The other difference is that invert sugar is made from sucralose, or table sugar, while HFCS comes from corn sugar.

From a health standpoint, there have been claims made about links to HFCS and obesity, which haven't been proven conclusively, but the association has certainly become a red flag on food labels. Your body treats both invert sugar and HFCS (and all sugar, frankly) the same, but a product containing HFCS might be something to think about when you're choosing a package of cookies. Add to that, artificial flavors, like those used in classic Oreos, are synthesized from petroleum and other non-edible substances, while natural flavorings come from edible sources. If you're trying to avoid artificial and overly processed ingredients like HFCS and flavorings, the Costco cookies are the way to go, but either way they'll taste good, whether eaten on their own or in a recipe like our 2-ingredient Oreo mug cake.