Bite into a Ritz cracker today and you’re eating 80% less saturated fat than you would have been just a few years ago. The biscuit looks and snaps the same, and tastes close enough that most buyers have no idea they’re eating a new recipe.

One of the biggest changes was swapping palm oil for sunflower oil, but there was much more to it than that. The reformulation took years to perfect in a laboratory, where scientists tested everything from density to how the cracker responds to heat, moisture and packaging.