Ritz vs Club Crackers: Does Either Contain Butter?

The side-by-side listings show that neither cracker lists butter or milk and both list high fructose corn syrup, while Club Original lists TBHQ in its soybean oil and the two products differ in serving size, calories and sodium.

Key takeaways

• Neither ingredient list includes butter or milk. Ritz describes a "flaky, buttery taste," and the source of that flavor is not disclosed.
• Club Original's listed ingredients include soybean oil with TBHQ for freshness. Ritz Original's listed oils are soybean and/or canola oil and palm oil, and its listed ingredients do not include TBHQ.
• Both list high fructose corn syrup. FDA notes that the most common forms contain 42 or 55 percent fructose.
• Per cracker: Ritz Original is about 16 kcal and 26 mg sodium (5 crackers = 80 kcal, 130 mg). Club Original is about 17.5 kcal and 31 mg sodium (4 crackers = 70 kcal, 125 mg).
• Serving sizes differ (5 Ritz crackers vs 4 Club crackers), so compare per cracker and check the package label.

Quick answer: do Ritz or Club Original crackers contain butter?

No, the Club Original ingredient list does not include butter or milk, and neither does the Ritz Original list. Ritz Original's ingredients cover enriched flour, soybean and/or canola oil, palm oil, sugar, salt, leavening, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin and natural flavor. The brand describes the cracker as having a "flaky, buttery taste," but a flavor description is not the same as a butter ingredient, and which natural flavor contributes that note is not disclosed.

Do Club Original crackers have butter?

No, the Club Original ingredient listing does not name butter or milk. It includes enriched flour, soybean oil (with TBHQ for freshness), sugar, salt, leavening, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup and soy lecithin.

Ritz Original vs Club Original at a glance: the side-by-side table

The table places the listed values next to each other. Per-cracker figures are calculated by dividing each serving's value by the number of crackers in that serving.

Label item	Ritz Original	Club Original
Serving size	5 crackers (16 g)	4 crackers (14 g)
Calories per serving	80 kcal	70 kcal
Calories per cracker (calculated)	about 16	about 17.5
Total fat per serving	4.5 g	3 g
Carbohydrate per serving	10 g	9 g
Sugars per serving	1 g (1 g added)	1 g
Protein per serving	1 g	1 g
Sodium per serving	130 mg	125 mg
Sodium per serving, second Club listing	Not applicable	127 mg
Sodium per cracker (calculated)	about 26 mg	about 31 mg
Butter or milk in ingredients	Not listed	Not listed
TBHQ in listed ingredients	Not listed	Listed (in soybean oil, for freshness)
High fructose corn syrup	Listed	Listed
Corn syrup	Not listed	Listed
Wheat and soy statement	Contains wheat and soy	Club allergen statement was not provided; soybean oil and soy lecithin are listed

Ingredient lists: which oils, sweeteners and additives does each cracker use?

The two ingredient lists share several items, including enriched wheat flour, sugar, salt, leavening, high fructose corn syrup and soy lecithin. They differ in the oils, in the presence of corn syrup, in TBHQ and in natural flavor.

Ritz crackers ingredients: what the listed ingredients say

The Ritz ingredient list here follows the Snackworks brand product page, which is the ingredient source used for Ritz. It lists unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), soybean and/or canola oil, palm oil, sugar, salt, leavening (calcium phosphate, baking soda), high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin and natural flavor.

Some database entries are older. The Open Food Facts Ritz Original entry still mentions partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil in its ingredient text, which the current brand list does not show, so the box is the best place to confirm.

Club crackers ingredients: what the listed ingredients say

Club Original lists enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin B1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin B2 [riboflavin], folic acid), soybean oil (with TBHQ for freshness), sugar, salt at 2% or less, high fructose corn syrup, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), corn syrup and soy lecithin. The Club listing names no separate flavor ingredient.

How the lists compare:

• Oils: Ritz lists soybean and/or canola oil plus palm oil. Club lists soybean oil.
• Sweeteners: Both list sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Club also lists corn syrup.
• Antioxidant: Club lists TBHQ for freshness. Ritz's listed ingredients do not include TBHQ.
• Leavening: Ritz uses calcium phosphate and baking soda. Club uses baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate and monocalcium phosphate.
• Flavor: Ritz lists natural flavor. No flavor ingredient is named in the Club listing.

Does Club Original have TBHQ, and does Ritz Original?

Yes, the Club Original ingredient listing includes soybean oil with TBHQ for freshness. Ritz's listed ingredients do not include TBHQ. If you have seen TBHQ connected to Ritz elsewhere, check the box, since the brand ingredient list used here does not show it.

The amount of TBHQ in Club Original is not disclosed, so this comparison cannot say how much is present in a cracker or in a serving.

Do Ritz or Club Original crackers have high fructose corn syrup?

Yes, both ingredient listings include high fructose corn syrup. According to FDA's high fructose corn syrup questions and answers, the most common forms contain 42 or 55 percent fructose (21 CFR 184.1866), with the rest glucose and water. FDA also notes that the fructose-to-glucose proportion is similar to that of sucrose.

Both products list 1 g of sugars per serving, but that number does not show which sweetener supplies the sugar. Club also lists corn syrup, which Ritz does not. Readers tracking added sugars may find the added sugars line on the Nutrition Facts panel more useful than the ingredient order. For another snack pair that compares sugar lines, see Triscuit vs Wheat Thins: 0 g vs 4 g Added Sugar.

Serving sizes: 5 Ritz crackers vs 4 Club crackers, and why the counts differ

The Ritz Original serving is 5 crackers (16 g), and the Club Original serving is 4 crackers (14 g). Neither listing explains why the two brands chose different serving sizes.

Because the counts differ, a side-by-side glance can mislead. When comparing labels:

• Read the serving size line first, including the gram weight.
• Divide calories and sodium by the number of crackers in the serving.
• Compare the per-cracker figures, then check the panel on your own box.

As a general matter, individual crackers in a box can differ in size, so per-cracker figures are averages rather than weights of single crackers.

The Ritz listing is for a 13.7 oz box, and one Club listing is for a 13.7 oz (388 g) box. Whether Club's oil blend differs by package size or region is not disclosed.

Calories per cracker: how many calories in a Ritz cracker vs a Club cracker?

One Ritz Original cracker has about 16 calories, calculated from 80 calories for a 5-cracker serving. One Club Original cracker has about 17.5 calories, calculated from 70 calories for a 4-cracker serving.

The Ritz serving has more total calories than the Club serving (80 vs 70), yet the Club cracker has more calories per cracker. Both Club Open Food Facts entries, 0030100038979 and 0030100100577, show 70 calories per 4 crackers.

Per-cracker values are averages from the serving listing, not weights of individual crackers. The Nutrition Facts panel on your package is the reference for the serving you are looking at.

Sodium per cracker: which has more, Ritz or Club?

Per cracker, Club Original has more sodium: about 31 mg, compared with about 26 mg for Ritz Original. Per serving the order reverses: Ritz lists 130 mg per 5 crackers, and Club lists 125 mg per 4 crackers.

Club sodium values vary slightly across the two Open Food Facts listings. The Club Open Food Facts entry lists 125 mg per 4 crackers, and the 13.7 oz entry lists 127 mg. The reason for the 2 mg difference is not explained, so the package label should be the final check.

The Club listing groups salt with the ingredients present at 2% or less (Club Original entry). The Ritz listing names salt without a percentage. For a different sodium comparison, see Cheez-It vs Goldfish: Ingredients, Sodium and Calories.

Are Ritz and Club Original crackers the same product?

No. They are separate products with different ingredient lists, serving sizes and nutrition values.

They share several listed items: enriched wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking soda leavening, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, and no butter or milk in either listing. They differ in oils (Ritz uses soybean and/or canola oil plus palm oil, while Club lists soybean oil), in TBHQ (listed only for Club), in corn syrup (listed only for Club), in natural flavor (listed only for Ritz), and in serving size and calorie and sodium values.

What the label facts do not tell you: saturated fat, TBHQ amount and flavor source

Saturated fat per serving is not stated in this article, because the database entries disagree. Ritz entries show 1 g in one place and 1.5 g in another. Club entries show 0 g in one place and about 0.45 g in another. Total fat is 4.5 g per Ritz serving and 3 g per Club serving, as shown in the table above. Check the Nutrition Facts panel on the box for saturated fat.

The TBHQ amount in Club Original is not disclosed. The source of the buttery flavor in Ritz is not disclosed either, since the brand names natural flavor but does not say which flavor produces that taste. Whether Club's oil blend differs by package size or region is also not disclosed.

People avoiding wheat or soy should note that the Ritz statement lists both. The Club allergen statement was not provided, so the box should be checked for it. Both products list soy lecithin, and both Club and Ritz list soybean oil.

This comparison covers listed ingredients, serving sizes and nutrition values. It cannot establish how any individual responds to either cracker, and it does not address people with particular sensitivities, allergies or health conditions beyond what the labels state.

How to check the package label yourself before you buy

Use this checklist on any cracker box:

• Read the serving size first, including the gram weight, since these two brands use different cracker counts.
• Scan the ingredient list for butter, milk and other dairy words, then check the allergen statement.
• Look for TBHQ in the oil listing, and compare exact oil names, since "soybean and/or canola" and "soybean" describe different blends.
• Divide calories and sodium by the number of crackers in the serving to compare per cracker.
• Check added sugars on the Nutrition Facts panel, and note whether corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup appears in the ingredients.
• Compare the printed box with any online listing, since older database entries can show ingredients the current package does not.

For more label walkthroughs, see 5 Grocery Staples With the Shortest Labels, Scanned.

If you want a faster way to work through a label, you can scan the barcode with the Aurascan app, a food-label scanner for iPhone with a free tier. Aurascan explains each ingredient one by one with cited evidence instead of giving a single score, pulls product data from Open Food Facts, USDA and barcode databases, and has no sponsors. Scan the package yourself, read each ingredient's explanation, and compare what you find with the Nutrition Facts panel on the box. Scan your next label with Aurascan

Related reading: for lunchbox sandwich crackers, see Which Has More Sodium, Lance or Austin?.