Kraft Singles

Last updated

Kraft Singles
Kraft singles logo.png
Kraft Singles.jpg
Owner Kraft Heinz
Country United States
Introduced1950;74 years ago (1950)
MarketsWorldwide
Website myfoodfamily.com/kraftsingles
Kraft Singles
Single wrapped slice of processed cheese.jpg
TypePasteurized prepared cheese product
Food energy
(per 21 g serving)
60  kcal  (251 kJ) [1]
Nutritional value
(per 21 g serving)
Protein 4  g
Fat 4  g
Carbohydrate 2  g

Kraft Singles is a brand of processed cheese product manufactured and sold by Kraft Heinz. Introduced in 1950, [2] the individually wrapped "slices" are not really slices off a block, but formed separately in manufacturing. [3]

Kraft Singles do not qualify for the "Pasteurized Process Cheese" labeling, [4] as the percentage of milkfat in the product that comes from the added dairy ingredients is greater than 5%. Kraft had used label "Pasteurized Process Cheese Food", which allows for a greater percentage of added dairy, until the FDA gave a warning in December 2002 stating that Kraft could not legally use that label any longer due to a formulation change that replaced some of the non-fat milk in the recipe with milk protein concentrate, which is not a permitted additive. Kraft complied with the FDA order by changing the label to the current "Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product". [5] Kraft Singles contain no vegetable oil or other non-dairy fats. [6]

One of the more famous ad campaigns involved the claim that each ¾ ounce slice contained "five ounces of milk", [7] which makes them taste better than imitation cheese slices made mostly with vegetable oil and water and hardly any milk. The campaign was lambasted for its implications that each slice contained the same amount of calcium as a five-ounce glass of milk and also more calcium than imitation cheese slices, which eventually led to a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission in 1992 that ordered Kraft to stop making false claims in its advertising. [8]

In Australia, the Kraft branding was retired in 2017. Kraft's successor company in Australia, Mondelez, sold their cheese products line to Bega Cheese, but retained rights to the Kraft name. Bega switched the name of their sliced cheese product from "Kraft Singles" to "Dairylea Slices", as Bega acquired the rights to the Dairylea brand in Australia in the deal. [9]

Though around 40 percent of households in the United States continue to buy Kraft Singles, sales have been flat. [10]

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References

  1. "Kraft Singles Products". My Food and Family. KRAFT Foods. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  2. "1950 Life Magazine Ad". Life Magazine. September 4, 1950. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  3. "Who Made That Kraft Single?". The New York Times. June 3, 2012.
  4. "CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21".
  5. "Kraft Foods North America, Inc. 18-Dec-02". Food and Drug Administration . January 10, 2011. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "Kraft Singles American". Nutritionix. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  7. Jen Wolford (February 5, 2008). "1980s 1987 Kraft Singles Commercial". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 via YouTube.
  8. "Kraft, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, 970 F.2d 311 (7th Cir. 1992)". University of Miami Entertainment & Sports Law Review. 9 (2): 358–359. October 1, 1992. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  9. "Kraft, one of the world's biggest food brands, to be phased out in Australia and New Zealand". news.com.au. May 26, 2017.
  10. Telford, Taylor (February 22, 2019). "Kraft's iconic American cheese is losing ground in today's America". Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2019.