Kraft Dinner (KD) in Canada, Kraft Mac & Cheese in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, Cheesey Pasta in the United Kingdom and internationally is a nonperishable, packaged

macaroni and cheese Macaroni and cheese (also called mac and cheese in Canada and the United States and macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom BBC, RecipesMacaroni Cheese/ref>) is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce, most commonly Cheddar sauce. The ...

product. It is made by Kraft Foods Group (or parent company

Mondelez Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

internationally) and traditionally cardboard-boxed with dried macaroni pasta and a packet of orange

processed cheese Processed cheese (also known as process cheese, cheese food, prepared cheese, cheese product, or plastic cheese) is a food product made from cheese and unfermented dairy ingredients mixed with emulsifiers. Additional ingredients, such as vegeta ...

powder. It was introduced under the ''Kraft Dinner'' name simultaneously in both Canada and the U.S. in 1937. The brand is popular with Canadians, who consume 55% more boxes per capita than Americans. There are now many similar products, including

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

, of nonperishable boxed

. Commercially, the line has evolved, with deluxe varieties marketed with liquid

, as well as microwavable frozen mac-and-cheese meals. The product by Kraft has developed into many flavour variations and formulations, including Easy Mac (a product that has since been renamed Mac & Cheese Dinner Cups), a single-serving product designed specifically for

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...

s. The product's innovation, at the time of the Great Depression, was to conveniently market nonperishable dried macaroni noodles together with a

powder. The product is prepared by cooking the pasta and adding the cheese powder along with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

(or margarine) and

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

History

The prerequisite to a shelf-stable packaged macaroni and cheese product was the invention of

, where emulsifying salts help stabilize the product, giving it a longer life. Although

James Lewis Kraft James Lewis Kraft (December 11, 1874 – February 16, 1953) was a Canadian-American entrepreneur and inventor. Kraft was the first to patent processed cheese. Life and career J. L. Kraft was born on December 11, 1874, near Stevensville, Ontario ...

, of Fort Erie, Ontario, but living in Chicago, did not invent processed cheese, 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 St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, salesman, Grant Leslie of

Dundee, Scotland Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, had the idea to sell macaroni pasta and cheese together as a package, so he began attaching

grated cheese Grated cheese is cheese that has been grated. Typically, aged hard cheeses are used. Cheese can be grated by hand using a hand grater, and can be bought already grated. Commercial grated cheeses are often blends of cheeses. Shredded cheese i ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the rationing of milk and dairy products, an increased reliance on meatless meals, and more women working outside the home, created a large market for the product, which was considered a hearty meal for families. Its

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

of ten months was attractive at a time when many Canadian homes did not have refrigerators. Also, consumers could receive, for one food ration stamp, two boxes. The original box was primarily yellow. 50 million boxes were sold during the war. The box's primary colour changed to blue in 1954, later used in an advertising campaign where children were encouraged to ask for "The Blue Box". A version with spiral-shaped noodles debuted in 1975, while Velveeta Shells & Cheese were introduced in 1984. A single-serving variation requiring only water for preparation was introduced as Easy Mac in 1999. In 2006, the cheddar and white cheddar versions switched to organic macaroni, while Easy Mac Cups were introduced the same year. In 2007, the noodles switched to 50 percent whole grain. Macaroni & Cheese Crackers also debuted in 2007. The crackers were discontinued in 2008, as they did not meet company targets. A sub-line, Homestyle Deluxe, was added in 2010 in three flavours: cheddar, four-cheese sauce, and Old World Italian. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese sold in the United States used to include

Yellow 5 Tartrazine is a synthetic lemon yellow azo dye primarily used as a food coloring. It is also known as E number E102, C.I. 19140, FD&C Yellow 5, Yellow 5 Lake, Acid Yellow 23, Food Yellow 4, and trisodium 1-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-4-(4-sulfonatoph ...

and

Yellow 6 Sunset yellow FCF (also known as orange yellow S, or C.I. 15985) is a petroleum-derived orange azo dye with a pH dependent maximum absorption at about 480 nm at pH 1 and 443 nm at pH 13 with a shoulder at 500 nm. When added to f ...

to make the food a brighter colour. In Europe, food that contains Yellow 5 requires a warning label saying, "This product may have adverse effect on activity and attention in children." In 2014, none of the European varieties were made with artificial dyes. On November 1, 2013, Kraft announced that there would be 457 new pasta shape varieties for children in the U.S. would no longer include Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, and there would be a decrease in the sodium and saturated fat content, and six more grams of

whole grains A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated wi ...

. In April 2015, it was announced that those changes, including the elimination of artificial preservatives, would be extended throughout

the line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

after January 2016. Paprika,

annatto Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree ('' Bixa orellana''), native to tropical America. It is often used to impart a yellow or orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its f ...

and

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast ...

are used for colouring. According to Kraft, the changes were a response to consumer feedback. In 2018, Kraft-Heinz introduced the KD Shaker, which was a plastic bottle of Kraft Mac and Cheese Dinner's powdered cheese, allowing one to use the cheese powder as they wish, without needing to worry about unused pasta. The product is similar to shelf-stable Parmesan cheese powder bottle cans.

In Canadian culture

Kraft Dinner has been called a de facto national dish of Canada. Packaged in Quebec with Canadian wheat and milk, and other ingredients from Canada and the US, Canadians purchase 1.7 million of the 7 million boxes sold globally each week''Teens in Canada.'' Kitty Shea. Compass Point Books, 2008 pg. 30 and eat an average of 3.2 boxes of Kraft Dinner each year, 55% more than Americans. The meal is the most popular grocery item in the country, where "Kraft Dinner" has an iconic status and has become a

generic trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...

of sorts for macaroni and cheese. It is often simply referred to by the initials K.D. As Kraft Dinner has a different name in Canada from the United States and other markets, the Canadian marketing and advertising platform is a made-in-Canada effort that cannot be easily adapted to the US market. Pundit

Rex Murphy Rex Murphy (born March 1947) is a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters. He was the regular host of CBC Radio One's ''Cross Country Checkup'', a nationwide call-in show, for 21 years before stepping d ...

wrote that "Kraft Dinner revolves in that all-but-unobtainable orbit of the

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service res ...

doughnut and the A&W Teen Burger. It is one of that great trinity of quick digestibles that have been enrolled as genuine Canadian cultural icons."

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

wrote that "cheese plays a weirdly large dietary role in the lives of Canadians, who have a more intimate and intense relationship with Kraft food products than the citizens of any other country. This is not a shameless product plug – for some reason, Canadians and Kraft products have bonded the way Australians have bonded with

Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan ...

ic,_recte:Vegemite.html"_;"title="Vegemite.html"_;"title="ic,_recte:Vegemite">ic,_recte:Vegemite">Vegemite.html"_;"title="ic,_recte:Vegemite">ic,_recte:Vegemite_or_the_English_with_Heinz_Baked_Beanz.html" "title="Vegemite">ic,_recte:Vegemite.html" ;"title="Vegemite.html" ;"title="ic, recte:Vegemite">ic, recte:Vegemite">Vegemite.html" ;"title="ic, recte:Vegemite">ic, recte:Vegemite or the English with Heinz Baked Beanz">Heinz baked beans Heinz Baked Beans are a brand of baked beans produced by the H. J. Heinz Company. They have been sold as "Heinz Beanz" in the United Kingdom since 2008. History In 1886, Heinz Baked Beans were first sold at the Fortnum & Mason department store ...

History

In Canadian culture

Nutrition

Preparation

Variations

Kraft Dinner Smart

Flavours and shapes

Marketing

Gallery

See also

References

External links