In Cecil’s January 20 column he discusses the origin and probable meaning of the “Grape-Nuts Brand” cereal.
I had always assumed that they were called grape-nuts because they looked like grape seeds (and are darned near as hard)
There is one current one-the-market scam with a deceptive name that I encounter frequently and which seems to have escaped the gummint’s notice: A few years ago, Boars Head conducted a search-and-destroy mission across the country and destroyed almost all the local delis so that it has become very difficult to find anything other than Boars Head meats and cheeses. This is not usually a problem, as they offer a moderately good product. But they offer a “Virginia Brand” ham that is pure deception, as it is nothing like the city version of the country ham that usually goes by the name “Virginia ham.” Actual Virginia ham, which is a unique and superior product, has become next to impossible to find. Ecrassez l’infame!
While they may have destroyed yourlocal delis, Boars Head probably didn’t dent the deli market across the US. I never heard of them.
The name “Virginia Ham” is rather a misnomer, subject to horrible abuse.
I just cooked a Smithfield Ham(the real thing) yesterday. I am slicing it(thinly) tomorrow and passing out poundage to my closest friends. If Uke lived closer, he’d get a pound.
Where do you live that some third-rate deli has taken over?
I’m guessing that calling it Virginia “brand” lets it slip through the same loophole that allows a substance that is almost but not entirely unlike cheese to be marketed as cheese “food”.
Virginia country hams are for sale, online. How badly do you want one, Bill?
FWIW, Boar’s Head meats and cheeses are plentiful here, though there are plenty of other brands, as well. Some markets sell Boar’s Head excluseively, but given that it’s an extremely high-quality name (I mourn any time I have to eat roast beef from another brand), I always assumed the exclusivity at certain stores was due to their desire to sell the best, not unsavory tactics on Boar’s Head’s part.
And I, too, thought it was called “Grape-Nuts” because they looked like grape seeds. Kinda like how Cocoa Pebbles don’t include any actual rocks, yet are vaguely pebble-shaped.
Jeff
FWIW, to update Cecil’s column, General Foods is now know as Kraft Foods, Inc. They merged in 1989 and were “reorganized” and renamed Kraft Foods, Inc. in 1995.
Also, C.W. Post introduced Grape-Nuts in 1897, not 1898 as Cecil reported.
Ducky, “Virginia Brand” slips by under the same loophole as Grape-nuts. Don’t know what a Virginia ham is supposed to be like, or what a Boar’s Head “Virginia Brand” ham is like.
The “cheese food” loophole is that the fake cheese product looks like cheese, tastes somewhat like cheese, and is supposed to be used in place of cheese. However, calling it cheese is a little misleading if there’s no milk in it (and no bacteria cultures). Same as Cool Whip "whipped topping**. They can’t call in whipped cream, even though that’s what it is replacing. “Whipped cream-like substance” doesn’t quite have the right ring to it.
But I thought “cheese food” was what they fed cheese.
Actually, “cheese food” is a real term for a very specific sort of product. All that “cheese food” means is that they take two or more different kinds of cheese, melt them, mix them together, and let the stuff re-solidify. This means, among other things, that there is no such thing as “American cheese”, said product always being a “cheese food” (mixture of Swiss and Cheddar, as I recall). A “cheese food product”, in turn (what Kraft Singles are labelled as) would then be a product made from cheese food.
There is, however, no official, regulated definition of “cheez”, so products labelled by that term can be just about anything (as long as it’s orange, I suppose).
All American cheese is a blend, but not all American cheese is “cheese food”, as a close examination of your supermarket shelves will reveal. “Cheese food”, as I understand it, requires outright non-cheese to be in the blend.
CFR 133.173 seems pretty clear – cheese food is made up of cheese or cheeses (other than an excepted family of soft cheeses) melted with other dairy products, with or without acidifying, emulsifying, or flavoring elements.
