# Okay, why is it "Kraft Dinner" in Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111 "2015-01-06T09:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/61 "2015-01-09T16:29:20Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > But the Kraft brand meant it probably involved cheese, or _maybe_some other dairy product (but probably cheese). “Kraft Dinner” doesn’t say what the cheese is doing, but it does say that cheese probably plays a prominent part. Cheese, or [paperboard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_paper)? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/62 "2015-01-09T16:49:35Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Which I already acknowledged in post 47. Do try to keep up. This cheese powder appears to be serious business! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/63 "2015-01-09T18:33:35Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > This cheese powder appears to be serious business! I just bought a pound of [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099XPG94/ref=shptrk_scth). I’ll be back with a review on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/64 "2015-01-09T18:41:51Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Huh, and I see it was introduced in 1937, before the TV dinner. I wouldn’t have thought it. > > But still, I can think of better ways to market a new concept than calling it “dinner.” I mean, like I said, “Kraft Dinner” could be literally ANYTHING that’s vaguely food-like. It could’ve been peanut butter sandwiches or roast turkey with stuffing, gravy, and broccoli carved into the shape of pheasants. For a new product, why would one want to evoke “well, it’s food, but we won’t tell you what it is”? You want confusing, have you ever heard of the candy bar called “Chicken Dinner”? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/65 "2015-01-09T19:04:59Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > What I get out of this thread is that despite their stereotypical love of maple syrup (and poutine in Quebec), Canadians are better characterized as a bunch of macaroni eaters. Yes? In all fairness, we love poutine across Canada, not just in Quebec. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/66 "2015-01-09T19:45:00Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I just bought a pound of [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099XPG94/ref=shptrk_scth). I’ll be back with a review on Monday. But that’s ‘Cheez’, not cheese. Probably a vague imitation at best. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/67 "2015-01-09T21:57:54Z")
[QUOTE=MrAtZoz] the phrase is so blandly generic and non-descriptive that one wonders how they came up with it. [/QUOTE] And people are wondering why the phrase is used is Canada… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/68 "2015-01-10T03:18:41Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > No, not really, since Kraft Dinner is, and always has been, the name of the product. > > What’s reasonable to wonder is why Kraft US decided to change the name. Because mac & cheese is not dinner. If someone invited me for dinner and gave me mac & cheese, I’d flip the table over and demand satisfaction. Or just not eat it (because I hate it). One of those. But seriously, it’s not dinner unless you’re a small child. For everyone else it’s a snack or side dish or something. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/69 "2015-01-10T03:22:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You want confusing, have you ever heard of the candy bar called “Chicken Dinner”? We call them “chocolate bars” in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/70 "2015-01-10T05:34:35Z")
What gets me is the people who (and four or five people did do this, by the way), when I lived in Canada for awhile, insisted on calling it that. As in: Me: Oh, Mac and cheese tonight? Them: No…it’s Kraft Dinner. Me: … It’s basically macaroni and cheese, though. Them: The name of it is Kraft Dinner. Me: Also known as…mac and cheese… Them: Wrong, that’s not what this is called…this is called Kraft Dinner. See the box? No, really. I had conversations similar to this at least five times in my year of living in Canada, with five different people. “Hey! I know. How about we have some mac and cheese tonight? :)” “You mean Kraft Dinner?” ARRGGHHHHHH ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/71 "2015-01-10T06:03:48Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, someone [already went and did that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Products), so they had to add something new. Strangely enough, when BEST closed in Minnetonka, MN, Best Buy moved in to that building (They had been in a different building nearby). Seemed quite appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/72 "2015-01-10T12:03:02Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > What gets me is the people who (and four or five people did do this, by the way), when I lived in Canada for awhile, insisted on calling it that. > > As in: > > Me: Oh, Mac and cheese tonight? > > Them: No…it’s Kraft Dinner. > > Me: … It’s basically macaroni and cheese, though. > > Them: The name of it is Kraft Dinner. > > Me: Also known as…mac and cheese… > > Them: Wrong, that’s not what this is called…this is called Kraft Dinner. See the box? > > No, really. I had conversations similar to this at least five times in my year of living in Canada, with five different people. > > “Hey! I know. How about we have some mac and cheese tonight? :)” > > “You mean Kraft Dinner?” > > ARRGGHHHHHH Maybe they want to distinguish between the abomination in a blue box and actual, baked, delicious mac 'n cheese. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/73 "2015-01-10T15:27:00Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Maybe they want to distinguish between the abomination in a blue box and actual, baked, delicious mac 'n cheese. That is exactly why. “Macaroni and cheese” is actual baked macaroni with cheese. “Kraft Dinner” is mac and cheese from a blue box and takes 9 minutes to make. That is why people distinguish between them. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/74 "2015-01-10T16:37:01Z")
Kraft Dinner. Yes. I’d never heard this term for what I know as macaroni and cheese until I married a Canadian. And (like **Idle Thoughts** describes above), my wife _insists_ that the correct term for the dish is Kraft Dinner. Macaroni and cheese (or any variant thereof) is just _wrong_. Other US vs. Canada (or at least the part of Canada my wife is from) food-related peculiarities I’ve noticed: Vienna sausages (Maple Leaf brand) are edible, enjoyable food. They’re not. They’re tasteless sweepings from the slaughterhouse floor. Miracle Whip is better than mayonnaise. Again, wrong. Baloney is not for sandwiches. It’s meant to be sliced thick and fried. OK, this actually isn’t bad. Fish and brewis is the food of the gods. It’s OK, I guess, but nothing to get excited about. You can eat seals. Have you ever tasted seal meat? Enough said. You can eat moose. Not bad, really. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/75 "2015-01-10T16:38:17Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > That is exactly why. “Macaroni and cheese” is actual baked macaroni with cheese. “Kraft Dinner” is mac and cheese from a blue box and takes 9 minutes to make. That is why people distinguish between them. You’re absolutely right. This is how I remember macaroni and cheese from my childhood. My mother made it in the oven. It was baked. The cheese was real (well, it was Velveeta), not a powder. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/76 "2015-01-10T16:51:32Z")
Actually, a closer inspection of the (US) box shows ‘Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner’. I’m guessing ‘cheese dinner’ is similar to the phrase ‘cheese product,’ which allows some leeway for cheese-flavord substances. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111/77 "2015-01-10T16:54:26Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > MMMMMM, salty cheese powder. One of my cats goes \*mental \*when he hears me cut open the package and then he smells the salty cheese powder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-why-is-it-kraft-dinner-in-canada/709111.md?page=3)