# Did the noodles in Kraft Mac & Cheese used to be ... bendier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763 "2013-07-28T23:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/1 "2013-07-28T23:03:20Z")
My wife and I were discussing Kraft Mac & Cheese (a.k.a. Kraft Dinner) the other day, and she asked me if they’d ever used elbow macaroni, or if they’d always just used straight tubes. My first response was: What are you talking about? They STILL use elbow macaroni. But looking up some pictures on my phone and, later, looking at an actual box showed that she had a point. If those macaroni were elbow macaroni, they were elbows in an arm being held out mostly straight. They’re certainly nothing compared to, say, a box of Barilla elbow macaroni noodles. But of course the Kraft Mac & Cheese logo shows a full-on elbow noodle, bent enough to double as a smile. So I’m wondering: Has Kraft unbent the elbows in their macaroni over time? Or have they always been fairly straight, and my mental image incorrect? And if they have changed the shape … why? Easier to manufacture? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/2 "2013-07-28T23:11:17Z")
As far as I recall, it’s always been the straightish kind of noodles. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/3 "2013-07-28T23:15:14Z")
I don’t remember them ever being very curved. I started eating them in the late '70s or early '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/4 "2013-07-28T23:15:41Z")
There have been many variations of the basic product. I seem to remember one marketed as special because it had elbow noodles. …maybe not. Reality is so slippery in the world of processed food. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/5 "2013-07-28T23:26:07Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > As far as I recall, it’s always been the straightish kind of noodles. That’s my recollection as well. I grew up on Golden Grain Macaroni & Cheese, and that one used shorter, fatter, elbow macaroni – and had better sauce than Kraft. I asked about GG M&C [in 2005](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338431), and someone bumped the thread in 2010 to say that not only was the mac’n’cheese gone, the company appeared to be gone as well. EDIT: [Here’s the box I remember](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3360/3524311116_f6c88664b3_z.jpg). Also, Golden Grain still seems to be around (based on a google search). But I haven’t found the mac’n’cheese. . ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/6 "2013-07-28T23:46:53Z")
I remember them as straight noodles. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/7 "2013-07-29T00:02:09Z")
I assumed Kraft used elbow noodles, because that’s the type they used in the [big sculptures they put up in public locations throughout the country](https://www.google.com/search?q=kraft+macaroni+and+cheese+sculpture). ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/8 "2013-07-29T00:07:19Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > I remember them as straight noodles. Me too. I spent many a childhood dinnertime threading four straight cheesy noodles onto the four tines of my fork before eating them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/9 "2013-07-29T00:19:18Z")
Perhaps you’re thinking of the [Deluxe](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Deluxe-Dinner-Macaroni-Cheese/dp/B002UL1NJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375056903&sr=8-5) version. There are indeed different varieties. You can get it shaped like shells, spirals, [Spongebobs](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Macaroni-Cheese-Sponge-5-5-Ounce/dp/B000E1FZ8C/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1375057019&sr=8-17)… But as far as I know, the basic, original version has always been straight. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/10 "2013-07-29T00:25:03Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/11 "2013-07-29T00:29:11Z")
Stouffer’s macaroni & cheese is nearly straight too. Thats what we have at home. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/12 "2013-07-29T00:32:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps you’re thinking of the [Deluxe](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Deluxe-Dinner-Macaroni-Cheese/dp/B002UL1NJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375056903&sr=8-5) version. > > There are indeed different varieties. You can get it shaped like shells, spirals, [Spongebobs](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Macaroni-Cheese-Sponge-5-5-Ounce/dp/B000E1FZ8C/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1375057019&sr=8-17)… But as far as I know, the basic, original version has always been straight. Somewhere I saw a link to [this article](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577355780907460716.html) from the Wall Street Journal about how Kraft develops thousands of shapes of pasta (selling only some of them) in an attempt to appeal to kids. (The difficulty is making a shape that looks like the cartoon character or whatever they’re trying for, especially after being boiled, and also lets the sauce cling to it.) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/13 "2013-07-29T00:51:49Z")
I can remember threading the straight ones onto my fork tines in the 60’s and 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/14 "2013-07-29T01:55:49Z")
I thought I was the only kid who did that thing with the fork tines… ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/15 "2013-07-29T02:05:48Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Me too. I spent many a childhood dinnertime threading four straight cheesy noodles onto the four tines of my fork before eating them. I did that as well. I actually edited it out of my first post 'cause I thought y’all might think I was strange. 😛 Now I see I’m not alone! ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/16 "2013-07-29T02:27:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assumed Kraft used elbow noodles, because that’s the type they used in the [big sculptures they put up in public locations throughout the country](https://www.google.com/search?q=kraft+macaroni+and+cheese+sculpture). A sculpture that looks like the actual noodles used would be remarkably phallic. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/17 "2013-07-29T04:28:15Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > I did that as well. I actually edited it out of my first post 'cause I thought y’all might think I was strange. 😛 Now I see I’m not alone! Definitely not alone! 😃 Twas my favorite childhood meal, and the fork thing got me in trouble timewise more than a few times. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/18 "2013-07-29T14:12:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps you’re thinking of the [Deluxe](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Deluxe-Dinner-Macaroni-Cheese/dp/B002UL1NJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375056903&sr=8-5) version. > > There are indeed different varieties. You can get it shaped like shells, spirals, [Spongebobs](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Macaroni-Cheese-Sponge-5-5-Ounce/dp/B000E1FZ8C/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1375057019&sr=8-17)… But as far as I know, the basic, original version has always been straight. That’s how I remember it as well. The Deluxe (with the cheese sauce) are elbows, the version with the powder mix were always straight. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/19 "2013-07-29T15:37:01Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Me too. I spent many a childhood dinnertime threading four straight cheesy noodles onto the four tines of my fork before eating them. This. Exactly this. I’m 36. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/20 "2013-07-30T01:10:14Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Me too. I spent many a childhood dinnertime threading four straight cheesy noodles onto the four tines of my fork before eating them. Heck, I’m 56 and I still do it! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763.md?page=2)