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I was supposed to write about Latinx mental health awareness this week, but then the cheet’ hit the fan.
On Sunday, The Times published a story written by business reporter Sam Dean with the provocative headline “The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.” It asserted that Richard Montañez, a former Frito-Lay executive who worked his way from being a janitor to the C-suite through sheer ganas and Mexican American ingenuity, didn’t actually invent the iconic snack.
Dean used “interviews with more than a dozen former Frito-Lay employees, the archival record and Frito-Lay itself” to support the story. He also reached out to Montañez on multiple occasions to get him on the record but never got a response. The Times stands by Dean’s reporting.