This food enthusiast broke down exactly how Velveeta has changed since it was first released. Spoiler alert: It’s gotten worse in recent years.
Velveeta is often referred to as liquid gold, and in some communities, it is the basis for a creamy mac and cheese and smooth queso recipes.
Velveeta was initially invented as a way for the Monroe Cheese Company to salvage its broken or mishapen Swiss cheese wheels. Emil Frey, a Swiss immigrant, was able to melt together the scraps into a velvety consistency that was dubbed Velveeta, Delish reported.
About 20 years after its creation, food giant Kraft bought Velveeta.
While we know it today as a highly processed, not-so-healthy food, it was originally marketed as “highly nourishing” and even received public approval from the American Medical Association.
Velveeta was rebranded in the ’50s as a dip and sauce to avoid competition with newly launched Kraft pre-sliced American cheese.
But Velveeta is far gone from its cheesy roots, and this woman shows exactly how the changes happened over the years.
Woman explains why Velveeta tastes so different now
In a trending video with more than 52,000 views, food enthusiast and recipe developer Lee (@o_g_deez) shows the “decline” of Velveeta over the years.
She was able to illustrate this downfall by pulling images over the last century of the product’s many ingredient changes.
“So if you’re wondering why your Velveeta does not taste the same, I’m here to tell you why, allegedly,” Lee says.
Here’s an easy rundown of the changes:
- 1950s: Contained American cheese as the first ingredient and cream. In this era, American cheese was considered two or more cheeses that were blended with an emulsifier.
- 1970s and 1980s: Was a blend of Swiss cheese and American cheese.
- 1990s: Swiss cheese was replaced wth a blend of Cheddar and Colby Jack. The ingredient list also got a whole lot longer with the introduction of preservatives.
“That brings us to what we have modern day. If you want to call it Velveeta you can, I think it’s Frankenveeta,” Lee says.
Cheese is no longer the first ingredient or even an ingredient at all. Instead, it’s Skim milk, milk, canola oil, and milk protein.
“The modern version is mostly milk and canola oil,” Lee says.
She added the following in a written comment:
“During my decades of performing vigilante food detective work, I’ve noticed that many times the store brand will be closer in proximity to the quality and ingredients of what the original item was.”
“I’ve since seen so many comments in other videos that validate this sentiment, a well as brought attention to me looking into a few major store brand ingredients of their versions of Velveeta,” she continued. “I checked out the Great Value brand, Krogers version, and Aldi. None of them contain canola oil or any oil for that matter.”
Is Velveeta cheese?
While Velveeta used to be made with real cheese, its current formulation does not qualify it as a cheese.
In fact, the FDA sent Kraft a letter stating they couldn’t describe the product as a “cheese spread” and had to change the label and marketing to “cheese product,” Delish stated.
‘Kids today will never know.’
“Nothing tastes the same!! all the company’s are cutting corners,” a top comment read.
“Velveeta is the margarine of cheese lol,” a person pointed out.
“This is why 90s food was s different growing up. Kids today will never know,” another added.
“Food has really become disgusting. I don’t buy much processed stuff anymore..it’s hardly food,” a commenter wrote.
@o_g_deez Replying to @ccs0082 2 minute rundown of how we ended up with what we have today. #foodie #foodtok #fypシ #foodtiktok #cheese #millennial #mac #foodlover ♬ original sound – The Food Hacker
The Daily Dot reached out to Lee via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Kraft via email.
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