Celebrate National Jello Week, February 12-18

Officially declared by the Utah Legislature in 2001, the second week of February is National Jello Week. When I first saw this, I immediately dismissed it as another crazy holiday dreamed up by their PR company. Upon further review, Jello has a long and interesting history. Jell-O, as it was originally called, has existed as a product since the late 1890's.

The Jello brand is now owned by Kraft Foods, which sells more than 300 million boxes a year. LeRoy, New York was the original home of Jell-O, and currently houses the Jell-O Museum. www.jellogallery.org
They have quite the gift shop and a lot more information on this history of Jello.

Jello currently comes in more than 25 flavors of gelatin and 30 flavors of pudding products. Comedian Bill Cosby was the Jello spokesman from 1974 until 2010.

Most adults have tried Jello shots (Jello with alcohol), and I have actually wrestled in Jello (not the kind you can eat).

I came across a list of discontinued Jello flavors (it is lengthy), and some of the more notable ones are Turnip, Italian Salad, Bubble Gum, Tomato, Maple Syrup, Root Beer and Celery.

Personally, I haven't eaten Jello gelatin in ten years. While being hospitalized with an intestinal disorder, the only thing they would feed me for several days was JELLO. Haven't had it since. I do still like Jello pudding. I'll celebrate Jello week with a few helpings of that!