Kraft Singles is a processed ‘cheese product’ manufactured and sold by Kraft Foods, introduced in 1949. Although processed cheese was first invented in 1911 by Walter Gerber of Thun, Switzerland, it was James L. Kraft who first applied for an American patent for his method in 1916. Kraft Foods also created the first commercially available sliced processed cheese, which was introduced in 1950.
One of the more famous ad campaigns in the 1980s claimed that each ¾ ounce slice contained ‘five ounces of milk’ (with milk being poured into a glass next to Kraft Singles), which makes them taste better than imitation cheese slices made mostly with vegetable oil and water (with oil being poured into a glass next to imitation cheese) and hardly any milk. The campaign was lambasted for its implications that each slice contained the same amount of calcium as a five ounce glass of milk and also more calcium than imitation cheese slices, which eventually led to a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission in 1992 that ordered Kraft to stop making false claims in its advertising. Kraft removed the ads, but continues to taut the use of milk in its ‘cheese products.’
The Daily Omnivore 
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