Morrie Yohai, Cheez Doodles creator, dies at 90

Morrie Yohai, the creator of the crunchy, finger-staining orange snack called Cheez Doodles, has died at his home on New York's Long Island. He was 90.

Yohai died July 27 in Kings Point, N.Y. His family said he had cancer.

Yohai developed the snack in the 1950s. The company already was selling Dipsy Doodles rippled corn chips, which were made with a machine that spit them out under pressure.

His son Robbie Yohai says his father applied a similar concept for Cheez Doodles, adapting the machine to extrude liquefied cornmeal into a tubular shape. The shapes were then coated with seasoning and cheese.

Yohai was always amused that people thought the cheddar cheese snack produced in the Bronx was the highlight of his life, his son said, adding that it was only one of many things his father did.

In the 1970s, Yohai was the associate dean of the business school at the New York Institute of Technology on Long Island.

He also studied mysticism and was a poet and philanthropist.

One of his two poetry books focused on the Torah.

He was a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Morrie Yohai in 2005. Credit: Bill Davis / Newsday