10 Things You Didn't To Know About Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
We'll bet that however often you may have eaten it, there are some things you still don't know about Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
The "Original" Variety is Technically Called "The Cheesiest."
The classic mac and cheese, in order to differentiate it from the host of other Kraft blue box macaroni and cheeses, is technically referred to as The Cheesiest.
There are 22 “Blue Box” Varieties
You'd be amazed at the variety that's currently available. There are more than 20 options, including Buffalo Cheddar, Garlic & Herb Alfredo, Grilled Cheese Explosion, Veggie Pasta, and Organic White Cheddar.
9 Million Boxes Were Sold in Year One
In 1937 alone, 9 million boxes flew off the shelves. That's what we call getting off to a good start!
Today, More Than 1 Million Boxes are Sold Daily
It's official: people love their macaroni and cheese.
2007 was an Unusually Amazing Year for Sales
Nobody knows exactly why, but in 2007, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese sales skyrocketed by 10 percent, with Easy Mac sales increasing by a whopping 50 percent.
It Has Different Names in Canada and the U.K.
Believe it or not, in Canada it's simply known as Kraft Dinner, and in the U.K. it's referred to as Macaroni Cheese or Cheesey Pasta.
It's the de Facto National Dish of Canada
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (ahem, Kraft Dinner) is insanely popular in Canada, and has been called the de facto national dish, over even poutine and Tim Hortons. Canadians purchase nearly 12 percent of all the Kraft Mac and Cheese produced, and eat 55 percent more of it than even Americans do. They don't even need to call it Kraft Dinner; now it's just "K.D."
There’s a Perfected Method of Making It
Think you can just boil the pasta, drain it, toss in everything else, and stir? Not so fast. The folks at WikiHow have figured out the perfect method for perfect Kraft Mac and Cheese. The secret? After you return the pasta to the pan, add the butter and stir it in until completely melted. Then pour both the cheese mix and the milk into the middle of the pot, and then fold it all together, working from the outside of the pot inwards.
They Were Forced to Remove Yellow Dye
Artificial colorings Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 have attracted the ire of lots of bloggers due to a supposed connection to cancer, hyperactivity in children, asthma, skin rashes, and migraines, and in 2013 two bloggers started a petition trying to convince Kraft to remove them from its products. After opponents of the substances racked up hundreds of thousands of signatures, the company agreed to remove the dyes from new recipes, though it kept existing recipes unaltered.
They Were the Official Sponsor of the Demolition of Texas Stadium
Kraft sponsored the demolition of Texas Stadium in 2010, paying $75,000 to local charities and donating $75,000 in products. This wasn't out of the blue; it was a PR tie-in to help promote the new "Cheddar Explosion" variety.