Cheetos, the cheesy corn puffs introduced 46 years ago, recently became the first major brand of American snack to be made in China. In two flavors, Zesty Japanese Steak and Savory American Cream. No cheese. Some other findings:

1. Chinese focus groups did not like ranch dressing, nacho, Italian pizza, Hawaiian barbecue, peanut satay, North Sea crab, chili prawn, coconut milk curry, smoked octopus, caramel and cuttlefish.

2. The name Cheeto corresponds to the Chinese characters qi duo, which translate as "new surprise." Good news for other American snack foods: Ho-Ho means "fine-fine" in Cantonese; Ding Dong can, depending on the context and tone, mean "ding-dong."

3. In Korea, Chester Cheetah, the snack's spokestoon, says: "Cheetos, I will eat you sometime. Cheetos, I will eat you this time!" On Chinese television, he will do a rap song, in Cantonese and Mandarin.

4. What is the sound of one billion cheetos crunching? William E. Lee, an expert in the sensory attributes of snack food at the University of South Florida in Tampa, says: "The sound of Cheetos, even a billion mouthfuls, is not particularly loud. There's a high degree of mouth-melt. It's almost like eating air."