Kraft Dinner
Powdered processed cheese packet
"Original Cheese Sauce Mix" |
|
| Nutritional value per 2.5 oz. (70 g), about 1 cup prepared |
|
|---|---|
| Energy | 260 kcal (1,100 kJ) |
|
47 g
49 g prepared |
|
| Sugars | 6 g 7 g prepared |
| Dietary fiber | 1 g 1 g prepared |
|
3.5 g
19 g prepared |
|
| Saturated | 1.5 g 4.5 g prepared |
| Trans | 0 g 4 g prepared |
|
10 g
11 g prepared |
|
| Minerals | |
| Sodium |
(60%)
900 mg |
| Other constituents | |
| Sodium, prepared | 710 mg (29%) |
|
|
| Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: Kraft Foods USA |
|
The product known as Kraft macaroni & cheese dinner or Kraft mac and cheese in the United States and Australia, Kraft Dinner in Canada, and Macaroni Cheese or Cheesey Pasta in the United Kingdom, is a nonperishable, packaged dry macaroni and cheese product. It was first introduced in the U.S. in 1937 by National Dairy, the company now known as Kraft Foods. It developed into several other formulations, including Easy Mac, a single-serving product designed specifically for microwave ovens.
The product's innovation was to combine the nonperishable dried macaroni noodles with a processed cheese powder, so that the dish could be prepared by cooking the pasta and adding the cheese powder, butter, and milk. The resulting mac & cheese glowed a uniquely unnatural orange color, but by 2016 all artificial food coloring was removed.
The prerequisite to a packaged macaroni and cheese product was the invention of "processed" cheeses, where emulsifying salts help stabilize the product, giving it a longer life. James Lewis Kraft, originally of Fort Erie, Ontario, but living in Chicago, did not invent processed cheese, but he won a patent for one processing method in 1916 and began to build his cheese business.
During the Great Depression, a St. Louis, Missouri salesman had the idea to sell macaroni pasta and cheese together as a package, so he began attaching grated cheese to boxes of pasta with a rubber band. In 1937, Kraft introduced the product in the U.S. and Canada. The timing of the product's launch had much to do with its success: during World War II, rationing of milk and dairy products, an increased reliance on meatless entrees, and more women working outside the home, created a nearly captive market for the product, which was considered a hearty meal for families. Its shelf life of ten months was attractive at a time when many Canadian homes did not have refrigerators.
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Wikipedia