Velveeta, you know better than this. In a viral video with more than half a million views, content creator Carmen Aaliyah (@carmennaaliyah) called out Velveeta for false advertising.
Aaliyah picked up a box of Velveeta mac and cheese, which comes with a packet of noodles, that was advertised as being enough for a group of five.
But when she opened up the box, she was confused.
In it was a palm-size packet of elbow noodles.
“It’s giving five bites. This is not five people,” Aaliyah says in the clip. “This not feeding MY five people.”
The nutrition info on the Velveeta Skillet meal stated that one serving size would be about a cup full. That means the packet should make about five cups of pasta, but it seems to only be enough for maybe one cup.
In a follow-up video, Aaliyah responded to the people who said she needed to cook the pasta to really understand the quantity in the packet.
Aaliya cooked two boxes of the stuff, and it still looked like there was just enough for maybe two people.
It seems these meal packets are made to serve just one adult. If it’s meant to be five servings the only plausible explanation is that the servings are for literal toddlers.
In a comment, Aaliyah shared that even after adding ground beef to the noodles (keep in mind she ended up using two boxes, which is supposed to be enough for ten people, according to Velveeta), there wasn’t enough for everyone.
She had to skip eating so she could properly feed her four younger siblings.
@carmennaaliyah Im sorry but this is not no five people #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #explore ♬ original sound – Carmen Aaliyah 🪐
Commenters joke about the quantity
“Me, myself, I, me, and I,” the top comment read.
“The only 5 people it’s feeding it’s the the 5 different personalities I have,” a person said.
“Is the 5 people supposed to fight? cause ….,” another wrote.
What is Velveeta?
Velveeta is a highly processed cheese product (notice how we said cheese product, not just cheese) known for its smooth, creamy texture and distinct orange color. It’s typically used in recipes that need a smooth cheese melt, like mac and cheese, casseroles, and Tex-Mex queso.
Velveeta is sold in a (malleable) block form and squeezable packets. The block is its most versatile form, as it can be shredded, cubed, or melted, depending on what you’re making with it.
If you’ve never had it, the taste resembles American cheese.
What’s it made of?
Velveeta is made of whey, milk, milk protein concentrate, modified starch, canola oil, and cheese culture. Because of these ingredients and how it’s prepared, the Food and Drug Administration does not consider it to be real cheese, The Pioneer Woman reported.
Why was it invented?
It was invented more than a century ago, in 1918, by Swiss immigrant Emil Frey to prevent broken cheese wheels from going to waste.
“The organization sent cheese scraps to Frey to experiment with at home, and he found that by adding cheese byproducts like whey to the scraps, the end result was velvety in consistency,” Lora Vogt, food historian and curator at the World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Mo, told All Recipes. “Due to its velvety texture when melted, Frey named it Velveeta.”
Velveeta was especially popular during periods of economic downturn, such as the Great Depression and World War II, because it was often cheaper and more plentiful than other cheeses.
The Daily Dot reached out to Aaliyah for comment via email, Instagram direct message, and Velveeta via email.
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