PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — As today is National Pretzel Day, you should give yourself permission to overindulge in carbohydrates.
To mark this momentous occasion, the Philadelphia Pretzel Factory, Auntie Anne’s, and Wetzel’s Pretzels are all running specials and giving away freebies.
It is thought that monks in Italy were responsible for the invention of the twisted treat around the year 610 AD.
Julius Sturgis and his family established the first commercial bakery in these United States not too far away in Lititz, Lancaster County. This bakery was the first of its kind in the country.
Today, eighty percent of all pretzels made in the United States are produced in the state of Pennsylvania. Among these pretzels is Snyder’s of Hanover, which is routinely ranked among the most popular brands in all of the United States.
It is estimated that the average American consumes around two pounds of pretzels in a single year.