# William A. Mitchell
William A. Mitchell (October 21, 1911 – July 26, 2004) was an American food chemist who spent 35 years at General Foods Corp. in [White Plains, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/white-plains-new-york), and whose inventions and patents are connected to [Cool Whip](https://www.edgepedia.org/cool-whip), Tang, quick-set Jell-O, and [Pop Rocks](https://www.edgepedia.org/pop-rocks).[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) • [2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) He held more than 70 patents, and Cool Whip remains the most consumed whipped topping in the United States under current owner Kraft Heinz.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) • [3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/) • [4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | October 21, 1911, Raymond, Minnesota[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) |
| Died | July 26, 2004, aged 92, Stockton, California, of congestive heart failure[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/08/02/william-mitchell/6f5cb476-f18c-45ea-8969-cccc62e54427/) |
| Employer | General Foods Corp., White Plains, N.Y., 1941–1976 (35 years)[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) • [1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) |
| Patents | More than 70[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) |
| Best-known products | Cool Whip (introduced 1965 per the federal court record), Tang, quick-set Jell-O, Pop Rocks[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) • [1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) |
| Cool Whip today | About 200 million tubs a year sold by Kraft Heinz[3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/) • [4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/) |
| Pop Rocks sales | More than 500 million packets sold by 1979[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) |
## Early life and education
Mitchell was born October 21, 1911, in Raymond, Minnesota, to William and Florence (Fletter) Mitchell, reportedly on a farm in Woods Township, Chippewa County.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) He took a train to Cotner College in [Lincoln, Nebraska](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-nebraska), and later earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Nebraska.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) Working at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Lincoln, he was badly burned in a lab explosion.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang)
Before his corporate career he taught high school science and worked briefly for Eastman Kodak, joining [General Foods](https://www.edgepedia.org/general-foods) in 1941.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/)
## Career at General Foods
Mitchell worked as a chemist for General Foods in White Plains, New York, for 35 years until his retirement in 1976.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) He worked inside a company whose brands, including Jell-O, Maxwell House, and Post Cereals, were first or near first in their categories, and whose legacy brands are now principally owned by [Kraft Heinz](https://www.edgepedia.org/kraft-heinz).[9](https://americanbusinesshistory.org/forgotten-giant-general-foods/) His own line of work sat in the postwar convenience-food expansion: the Atlantic argued that his development of a tapioca substitute helped facilitate the growth of the processed-food business in the 1940s and 1950s.[10](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/11/tastemaker-with-a-sweet-tooth/303577/)
## Inventions and patents
Mitchell held more than 70 patents, covering products that include Cool Whip, quick-set Jell-O gelatin, and the drink mix Tang.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) The dated record runs as follows:
- **Pop Rocks.** In 1956, while trying to make an instant carbonated soft drink by trapping carbon dioxide in solid candy, Mitchell learned how to embed the gas in hard candy; he received a patent in 1961 under the name "Gasified Confection."[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) • [2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) The candy was shelved for about 20 years before another chemist reworked the formula into the marketed product.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang)
- **Tang.** In 1957 Mitchell devised a powdered fruit-flavored drink, marketed in 1959 as Tang.[2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/)
- **Cool Whip.** General Foods introduced Cool Whip in 1965, after many years of research, as a frozen non-dairy whipped topping used as a dessert garnish, according to the 1983 federal court opinion in *General Foods Corp. v. Priddle*.[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) The Linda Hall Library dates the market introduction to 1967, sold by the Birds Eye division.[2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) Smithsonian Magazine likewise places the introduction in 1967, the year Mitchell patented a powdered gelatin dessert that could be set with cold water, paving the way for quick-set Jell-O.[3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/)
- **Other work.** He invented a substitute for tapioca[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/08/02/william-mitchell/6f5cb476-f18c-45ea-8969-cccc62e54427/) and powdered egg whites sold under many grocery labels.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang)
## How Cool Whip worked and why it succeeded
The 1983 court opinion describes the product mechanically: the topping was prepared by homogenizing non-dairy ingredients, namely sodium caseinate, vegetable oil, sugar, emulsifiers, and stabilizers.[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) It was sold in bowl-shaped tubs in the freezer section, giving it a much longer shelf life than whipped cream sold in aerosol cans or cartons.[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) At launch it was seen as a kind of miracle, especially for Kosher cooks, because a dairy-free topping sidestepped mixing-milk-and-meat restrictions.[4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/)
Commercially it moved fast: Cool Whip quickly became the largest and most profitable product line in its division[3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/) and General Foods' best-selling product.[4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/) By 1983 annual sales had grown to $125 million, with a Kansas sales volume of over $3 million.[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) Mitchell was not the first into the category: [Rich Products](https://www.edgepedia.org/rich-products) began selling a non-dairy Whip Topping in January 1945, developed by Frank Mitchell of Spencer Kellogg & Sons with backing from Bob Rich, and that September discovered the liquid could be whipped after freezing, a frozen non-dairy whipped cream more than a decade before Cool Whip.[11](https://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/170)
## Tang and the NASA effect
Tang sold slowly at first. When NASA adopted it for the [Mercury](https://www.edgepedia.org/mercury-spacecraft) and Gemini missions, sales took off; the West Central Tribune dates the turning point to 1962, when NASA sent Tang into orbit with astronaut [John Glenn](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-glenn) aboard a Mercury spacecraft.[2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) • [5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang)
## The Pop Rocks scare
Pop Rocks reached the market in 1974 and sold more than 500 million packets by 1979.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) Obituary accounts give 1975 as the market year.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html) • [2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) A Canadian General Foods subsidiary first sold the candy as a novelty before the home office took notice.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/)
An urban legend spread that children's stomachs exploded after eating Pop Rocks, including a story that Little Mikey, the boy in the Life cereal commercials, had died after eating the candy and drinking soda.[10](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/11/tastemaker-with-a-sweet-tooth/303577/) In response, General Foods ran full-page ads in 45 major newspapers, sent 50,000 letters to school principals, and sent Mitchell on a publicity tour; on February 4, 1979, dozens of newspapers carried a full-page ad in the form of a letter from Mitchell to parents, with a photo of him surrounded by children.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) • [5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) Mitchell pointed out that the amount of gas in Pop Rocks is less than one-tenth the amount in a can of soda pop.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/)
Two accounts explain the withdrawal differently. The Linda Hall Library account says the rumors led to the product's withdrawal and sale to another company.[2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/) General Foods itself, through account executive Paul Steidler of Clarke & Company, said the candy was withdrawn "because it didn't fit in with the long-term corporate strategy."[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) Pop Rocks disappeared from the market in 1980; a [Buffalo, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/buffalo-new-york), company obtained rights to produce and distribute it in April 1985, with a limited reintroduction in Arizona by 1987, and Pop Rocks Inc. today is based in Atlanta.[5](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang) A spin-off, Space Dust, was later renamed Cosmic Candy.[2](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/)
## By the numbers
Mitchell's two signature consumer products scaled in different ways. Pop Rocks sold more than 500 million packets in its first five years before the 1980 withdrawal.[7](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/) Cool Whip grew to $125 million in annual sales by 1983[8](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410) and, four decades later, Kraft Heinz still sells about 200 million tubs a year, making it the most consumed whipped topping in the United States.[3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/) • [4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/) The ownership chain runs from General Foods, whose brands including Jell-O, Maxwell House, and Post led their categories, to Kraft Heinz, the public company now principally owning the old General Foods brands.[9](https://americanbusinesshistory.org/forgotten-giant-general-foods/)
## How Cool Whip changed after Mitchell
The original product was marketed as non-dairy, though it contained milk-derived sodium caseinate; the product was reformulated in 2010 to include additional milk derivatives.[3](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/) • [4](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/)
## References
1. [William A. Mitchell, 92; Chemist, Inventor of Pop Rocks Candy (Los Angeles Times, 2004)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-31-me-passings31.2-story.html)
2. [William A. Mitchell – Scientist of the Day (Linda Hall Library)](https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/william-a-mitchell/)
3. [The Scientist Behind Some of Our Favorite Junk Foods (Smithsonian Magazine)](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientist-behind-some-our-favorite-junk-foods-180972624/)
4. [We can't quit Cool Whip (Salon, July 5, 2025)](https://www.salon.com/2025/07/05/we-cant-quit-cool-whip/)
5. [Food scientist with Minnesota roots created Cool Whip, Pop Rocks and Tang (West Central Tribune)](https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-vault/food-scientist-with-minnesota-roots-created-cool-whip-pop-rocks-and-tang)
6. [William Mitchell (The Washington Post, 2004)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/08/02/william-mitchell/6f5cb476-f18c-45ea-8969-cccc62e54427/)
7. [Bill Mitchell, the Pied Piper of Pop Rocks, Explodes a Rumor They Caused a Kid's Last Blast (People, March 5, 1979)](https://people.com/archive/bill-mitchell-the-pied-piper-of-pop-rocks-explodes-a-rumor-they-caused-a-kids-last-blast-vol-11-no-9/)
8. [General Foods Corp. v. Priddle, 569 F.Supp. 1378 (D. Kan. 1983)](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/general-foods-corp-v-889138410)
9. [Forgotten Giant: General Foods (American Business History Center)](https://americanbusinesshistory.org/forgotten-giant-general-foods/)
10. [Tastemaker With a Sweet Tooth (The Atlantic, November 2004)](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/11/tastemaker-with-a-sweet-tooth/303577/)
11. [History of Non-Dairy Whip Topping, Coffee Creamer, Cottage Cheese, and Icing/Frosting (SoyInfo Center)](https://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/170)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Consumer, industrial, and services founders › United States and Canada › Retail and consumer-brand founders*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license