The Scientist Behind Some of Our Favorite Junk Foods

There is nothing like a bowl of cherry Jell-O topped with a fluffy raft of faux whipped cream on a hot night. Both foodstuffs can be credited to William A. Mitchell.

• Mitchell was born in Minnesota in 1911. He got a degree in chemistry at the University of Nebraska and worked at General Foods at the start of World War II. There, he developed a substitute for tapioca, which was in short supply.
• In 1957, Mitchel developed a powdered fruit-flavored vitamin-enhanced drink mix named Tang Flavor Crystals. In 1962, NASA sent Tang into space to disguise the water's metallic taste onboard the spaceship.
• In 1956, Mitchell attempted to create instantly self-carbonating soda. It resulted in the candy known as Pop Rocks, which was patented in 1961.
• In 1957, Mitchell patented a powdered gelatin dessert that could be set with cold water. It paved the way for quick-set Jell-O.
• Mitchell introduced the faux whipped cream called Cool Whip in the same year.

Mitchell received about 70 patents over his career.