Mad about Science: American cheese

By Brenden Bobby
Reader Columnist

American cheese is a bit of an anomaly in the food world. It’s cheese that isn’t cheese and a culinary landmark for one of the most developed nations on Earth.

That being said, it’s also considered a disgusting travesty by much of the world.

What is American cheese, and how is it different from other kinds of cheese?

American cheese is processed cheese. This is a pre-existing cheese, like mild cheddar, that is mechanically processed with the emulsifying agent sodium citrate to give it the unique rubbery texture associated with American cheese. Sodium citrate helps preserve the cheese while also making it easier to melt on burgers or over pasta. Regular cheese will have its fats separate and burn if not carefully tended to while heating, but American cheese will simply melt under normal cooking temperatures due to the sodium citrate binding them to its structure.

American singles are a form of American cheese product, sold in individually wrapped slices. This is an incredibly wasteful packaging method, but the individually wrapped slices do allow the cheese to keep for much longer. An alternative to individually wrapping your slices of cheese is to just eat them faster to avoid waste.

The slices are not made individually. They are sliced from a larger block, as it’s more economical to create a batch and cut it down than to craft individual slices.

Larger blocks resemble Velveeta, another form of American cheese. It’s generally easier for the consumer to purchase pre-sliced American cheese than it is to cut uniform slices for sandwiches due to the nature of the product’s consistency. While it’s extremely wasteful to wrap individual slices, in the context of convenience, it begins to make some sense as to why the manufacturer would do this.

That being said, traditional cheesemakers have also packaged theirs in a plastic sleeve and separated it with cuts of parchment paper.

The invention of American cheese is remarkably modern. The first patents for it were filed in 1916 by James L. Kraft, founder of Kraft Foods. This was a lucrative time for Kraft to develop this cheese, as America entered World War I on April 6th, 1917. The logistical challenge of delivering fresh food to 4 million U.S. soldiers abroad was staggering, but Kraft was able to deliver with American loaf cheese.

Twelve years later, the Great Depression solidified Kraft’s market presence by providing an inexpensive, long-lasting food solution. Even after the end of the Great Depression in 1939, Kraft remained a culinary staple throughout the United States, as food often does after long periods of necessity. Kraft’s acquisition of the Velveeta cheese company in 1927 further bolstered its market share ahead of the greatest economic downturn in history.

Kraft macaroni and cheese came about during the 1930s, offering consumers a little more substance with added carbohydrates in addition to their cheese. At 19 cents to feed a family of four, this proved irresistible for many Americans well beyond the ’30s.

Between enforced rationing and supplying the U.S. military with food again for World War II, the reach of Kraft grew further yet. In 1950, Kraft discovered how to slice its cheese uniformly and, by 1965, began individually wrapping slices in plastic to preserve them for longer.

The 1980s saw American demand for cheese explode, doubling consumption from the 1950s to nearly 17.5 pounds per person per year. This meant big business for Kraft, but unbeknownst to them, their nearly century-long day in the sun was coming to a close.

The early 2000s saw a cultural shift towards food. Processed foods —after decades of feeding American families — were under scrutiny. Part of this shift seems to be from manufacturers changing the base ingredients of their processed foods in attempts to make food cheaper. Kraft was no exception and was called out by the FDA for using concentrated milk protein instead of actual cheese to make their American cheese product. This violated the legally established definition of what could be called a cheese food product and required Kraft to rebrand its product as “Kraft Singles,” because it wasn’t technically cheese.

The soap industry has faced a similar scrutiny. Cleaning products that don’t contain organic fats can’t legally be called soaps, as they are technically detergents. Dove bars are a notable example of this rule at play.

Public appetite for less processed food opened up markets for smaller manufacturers at the expense of big producers like Kraft. Wider recognition and an industry increasingly catering to people with food allergies meant new foods were entering the market at higher price points and were able to leverage this expense to appeal to a more health-conscious and wealthier clientele. These brands were able to skew Kraft as “poor food” by offering a “healthier” alternative.

In 2015, Kraft and Heinz merged with Warren Buffett’s money, an attempt by the billionaire investor to grow the product’s revenue by cutting costs and reducing overhead. Interestingly, the buildup to the merger artificially inflated the value of Kraft, while the actual actions to “save” the brand fell flat on its face to the tune of $15.6 billion. KraftHeinz’s stock price has continued to fall, settling around $23 per share over the past several years, hitting a historic low of $22.28 in 2020, likely due to shipping disruptions during the pandemic.

Stay curious, 7B.