The Blend Of Science And Real Dairy Behind American Cheese

American cheese tends to get a bad rap. It's reputation as a homogenized yellow mass of artificialness is only somewhat earned. What American cheese doesn't get enough credit for is why is was created in the first place. Solving a food spoilage crisis just in time for the first World War, American cheese is the biproduct of real dairy and scientific ingenuity. James Lewis Kraft and his American cheese are like Frankenstein and his monster — they didn't ask for hatred of the townsfolk, they just wanted to create something better, to beat out the inevitable cycle of decay. Both just so happen to be a hodgepodge of (cheese) parts.

Not to be too pedantic, but before the ruling comes down in the people versus American cheese, it's good to note that all cheese is technically processed. And while American cheese is frequently an amalgamation of Colby jack, cheddar, and Swiss, all cheese is the byproduct of man-made processes. Though you simply cannot beat the meltability of American cheese either on a classic all-American burger, in a gooey grilled cheese, or as a secret ingredient to step up your ramen — trust us on that last one.

In the early 1900s, Kraft and his brothers founded their eponymous cheese-making company. Prior to the Kraft brothers getting the patent for their signature sterilization of cheese and the addition of sodium citrate in 1916, cheese wasn't as widely available due to its shelf life. Cheese being a combination of proteins, calcium, moisture, and fat when melted down creates a separated, gloopy mess; but, with Kraft's addition of sodium citrate based on the discoveries of Swiss chemists, it emulsifies the ingredients together and keeps the cheese from separating as it's melted, preserving the integrity of the cheese through its phases. However, as production of the shelf-stable cheese increased, so did the list of unnecessary ingredients.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty. Hyper-processed American cheese — of the singularly wrapped slice variety — is no longer considered real cheese because of how many additional ingredients have been included over the years for the sake of keeping costs down. Real dairy is expensive. After some trouble with the FDA and USDA in 2002, the Kraft brand was given the option to either include more real dairy in their product — not just the powdered milk protein concentrate that makes up a large amount of the orange squares — or change how their American cheese was labeled. Kraft chose to keep the extra ingredients in favor of profits. Because of this, Kraft was forced to change the packaging from "pasteurized prepared cheese food" to "pasteurized prepared cheese product." Off-brand companies that copied Kraft's imposter cheese-making also converted their labels due to FDA guidelines.

With the USDA and FDA rulings came levels to the identification of certain American cheese products. Due to its shelf stable design, the words "pasteurized" and "processed" will appear on all labels. The keywords you're looking for when scanning packaging are either "cheese", "food", or "product". "Cheese" will mean that close to 100% of the ingredients are cheese based. "Food" guidelines require that at least 51% of the ingredients are cheese-based, and "product" means that there is minimal to no actual cheese in the product — regardless of if it's also labeled organic like with Horizon Organic's version. Recently, there has been an increase in small batch cheesemakers who are pushing for a better and less processed American cheese. Maybe with more of those widespread improvements, American cheese won't be as looked down upon — because the real stuff is sure delicious.