# Why are Wheat Thins so addictive?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 12, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991 "2001-11-12T22:31:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991/1 "2001-11-12T22:31:45Z")

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Many people I have talked to easily note the addictive quality of the flat crackers known as Wheat Thins. Is there a scientific reason behind the original “bet you can’t eat just one” food?

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**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991/2 "2001-11-12T22:53:45Z")

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I think it’s that killer combination of salty-sweet which most people love. The outside of a Wheat Thin is dusted in salt, so that’s the first thing you taste. Then you chew it up, and the cracker itself is loaded with starch. Your saliva begins transforming the starch into sugar even before you’ve swallowed it, which lends it a little sweetness. You satisfy two main taste areas with one cracker, so you eadt another, and another, and another, keeping the cycle going.

Mmmmm.

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**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991/3 "2001-11-12T22:55:56Z")

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Obscene amounts of MSG al la the crisps that come in a tube  
that rhyme with singles ?

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**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-wheat-thins-so-addictive/92991/4 "2001-11-13T00:16:25Z")

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No, no, those are a potato product. (I wouldn’t call them _chips_, but they’re a potato product.) Wheat thins are made from, well, wheat. They’re little square brown crackers, and they’re tremendously addictive. Beadalin’s theory sounds good to me.