When I lived in Canada, we didn’t call macaroni and cheese “Mac and Cheese.” Instead, we called it “Kraft Dinner.” In other words, we referred to the particular brand. I had thought it was identical to Americans’ Mac and Cheese produced by Kraft Foods. But I discovered different on Monday evening.
I had brought back from Canada at the end of my summer vacation [oops–I mean “my summer holiday” since I’m talking Canadian here] at my cottage a box of Kraft Dinner. I went to make it Monday evening. It looks the same and the directions for cooking it are the same.
But there are 2 differences–one small and one big. If you look closely, and if you know your American Mac and Cheese, you can see the differences. The small one is that instead of calling for 1/4 of a cup of milk, it calls for 1/3 of a cup of skim milk. The big one: It calls for 1 tablespoon of non-hydrogenated margarine instead of 4 tablespoons of margarine or butter. In other words, Kraft Dinner doesn’t even suggest butter and suggests that you use 1/4 as much as you would use in the United States. I don’t know why. I do think, from what I know, that margarine is less healthy than butter.
READER COMMENTS
Robert Lawson
Nov 30 2023 at 8:21am
Clearly you’re being “nudged” to reduce calorie intake.
David Henderson
Nov 30 2023 at 10:02am
Seems like it. Which immediately raises (not “begs”) the question: who is pushing for a nudge? Someone in the company? Someone in the government? It would be nice to know.
MarkW
Dec 1 2023 at 9:52am
My guess is that if they call for skimmed milk and very little fat, they can list lower numbers for calories and fat per serving. I’m not sure if this buys them something with respect to Canadian regulations or they just think it will look better to consumers.
BTW, the greatest Canadian song about ‘Kraft Dinners’?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8zdNe_l3M8
JR
Dec 1 2023 at 12:54pm
Government, we have far stricter nutrition and safe food policies than the USA has.
Brian
Dec 1 2023 at 6:22am
Or Americans are being nudged to increase their calorie intake.
AaronG
Nov 30 2023 at 9:44am
The Canadian recipe specifically calls for non-hydrogenated margarine. It is the partially hydrogenated fats (trans fats) that are specifically thought to be unhealthy input into margarine. Whether there are any particular benefits of using butter vs. margarine since they stopped using hydrogenated fats, I have no idea. But that should cover the biggest reason why one might be worse than the other.
David Henderson
Nov 30 2023 at 10:02am
Thanks.
Steve
Dec 3 2023 at 2:44pm
We do have misguided labeling regs re transfats.
Depending on where your cottage is that box may be dated.
Lastly kraft makes margerine.
David Henderson
Dec 4 2023 at 1:22pm
It was set to expire in February 2024. I bought it in July 2023.
Matthias
Dec 2 2023 at 4:20am
That might be the biggest health reason.
The biggest reason in general is probably taste.
bearski00
Nov 30 2023 at 10:20am
I like directing fewer calories. There are many variations of mac ‘n cheese recipes online and some even call for replacing butter with one egg yolk. Everyone assumes that Kraft will have their panel of experts direct best possible flavor. Though this may not always be the case as was the case with box cake mixes where Americans needed to add eggs and oil to make it seem more special.
Garrett
Nov 30 2023 at 11:58am
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but there’s quite a bit misinformation out there regarding nutrition. Saturated fats are generally considered by dieticians to be a less healthy alternative to unsaturated fats. Here are some examples of supporting research:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15774905 Flow-mediated dilatation is impaired by a high-saturated fat diet but not by a high-carbohydrate diet
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28526025 The effect of replacing saturated fat with mostly n-6 polyunsaturated fat on coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20351774 Effects on coronary heart disease of increasing polyunsaturated fat in place of saturated fat: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27434027 Effects of Saturated Fat, Polyunsaturated Fat, Monounsaturated Fat, and Carbohydrate on Glucose-Insulin Homeostasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Feeding Trials
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26615402 A high-fat, high-saturated fat diet decreases insulin sensitivity without changing intra-abdominal fat in weight-stable overweight and obese adults
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24550191 Overfeeding polyunsaturated and saturated fat causes distinct effects on liver and visceral fat accumulation in humans
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27434027 Effects of Saturated Fat, Polyunsaturated Fat, Monounsaturated Fat, and Carbohydrate on Glucose-Insulin Homeostasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Feeding Trials
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32114592 Omega-3, omega-6 and total dietary polyunsaturated fat on cancer incidence: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32723506 Association between dietary fat intake and mortality from all-causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9665108 Linoleic acid intake and cancer risk: a review and meta-analysis
Jay
Dec 1 2023 at 1:12am
So we’re still pushing the saturated fats boogeyman? We’re still pretending that butter – consumed in copious amounts of millennia – are all of a sudden dangerous and margarine is healthier?
Even the highly corrupt AHA has quietly begun removing their absurd anti-saturated fat propaganda and recommendations in recent years.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36477384/
Andrea Caplan
Dec 3 2023 at 9:16am
You are my hero! Posting academic peer reviewed studies… You know folks are still going to argue with you because that’s the internet…
This RD supports this message 😎
Ben Y
Nov 30 2023 at 12:11pm
There’s an immensely strong dairy lobby that partners with industry to find more places where they can increase dairy consumption.
This is probably part of it.
Matthias
Dec 2 2023 at 4:25am
Canada doesn’t have a strong dairy lobby?
Blue
Dec 2 2023 at 9:17am
Canada has dairy, whey or some other form in a ton of products.
The Canadian dairy lobby pours CA$80 million (US$62,268,928) to CA$120 million (US$93,403,392) into maintaining relationships on Parliament Hill (Government). Dairy in Canada also has a maximum said quota. The production quota system was designed to prevent overproduction which prevents the price from dropping, making whole milk products more expensive. I am assuming they customized it based on highest selling items and more affordable options in Canada. Especially since Industrial production tends to opt for margarine as it’s a much cheaper option in Canada.
Below is an example of pricing however it would vary depending on location.
2L (4.5 gallons) of Skim Milk is CA$5.18(USD$3.84)
2L of Whole milk varies from CAD$5.36-$9 (USD$3.84-6.67) depending on where you get it.
454G (1lb) of butter is CAD$6.48 (USD$4.8)
900G(1.98lbs) of margarine is CAD$5.48(USD$4.06)
These are the more affordable options, there are specialty brands that jack up their price significantly.
steve
Nov 30 2023 at 2:49pm
I would assume they set the recipe to be in line with what they think will please the consumer in each country. Americans expect more fat.* We make a big batch from scratch every other month for church. I make a rue with lots of butter and use whole milk. At least in my house and our church the extra fat is good. Also, Velveeta makes it creamy but I dont tell the yuppies that I add that. Since I save my bacon grease tried making the rue with that instead of butter but butter is definitely better. Margarine sucks.
*Among men, the prevalence of obesity was over 8 percentage points lower in Canada than in the United States (24.3% compared with 32.6%) and among women, more than 12 percentage points lower (23.9% compared with 36.2%) (Figure 1). (CDC numbers)
Steve
Dylan
Nov 30 2023 at 2:49pm
Like many folks of my age, I had Kraft Mac & Cheese fairly regularly growing up. But, I also had a mom that cared about fat intake, so when we made it we always used just a pat of butter. I didn’t even realize the recipe stated something different until I was in my late teens and my step brother suggested we go crazy and put as much butter in as the recipe called for. He still laughs at the look of horror I had when I saw how much of the stick of butter that was.
Ahmed Fares
Nov 30 2023 at 7:08pm
Thinking that perhaps there was a difference in the cheese sauce, a Google search confirmed it. The ingredients in the cheese sauce are different, hence the difference in what you add to compensate. See near the bottom of this page:
http://Canadian KD vs American Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
Also, this from another site (emphasis mine):
https://www.mashed.com/634065/is-there-a-real-difference-between-kraft-dinner-and-kraft-macaroni-cheese/
Ahmed Fares
Nov 30 2023 at 7:12pm
My comment ran the links together with my quote. Here the two links again:
https://usvscanada.com/canadian-kd-vs-american-kraft-macaroni-and-cheese/
https://www.mashed.com/634065/is-there-a-real-difference-between-kraft-dinner-and-kraft-macaroni-cheese/
Ahmed Fares
Nov 30 2023 at 7:16pm
The first link in my comment shows that the ingredients in the cheese sauce are different, which explains why what you add to the cheese sause is also different. This is a quote from the second link above:
nobody.really
Dec 1 2023 at 9:15am
That does surprise me–‘cuz I would have thought the Canadians would use metric units. After all, it’s not as if THEY fought a war to defend their freedom to use imperial units.
Jeremy
Dec 2 2023 at 1:33am
It’s honestly bizarre here as we commonly use both. We use cups for cooking but liters for gasoline. Any kind of temperature we use Celsius but use Fahrenheit for baking. Typically use lbs instead of kg for weight and ft/in for height. Psi for pressure vs bar. Km vs miles. Just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head. It really makes travel interesting as going to the states for example some things throw me off and then going to Europe or elsewhere I’m thrown off there too with other things. Very bizarre indeed.
JR
Dec 1 2023 at 12:52pm
Having worked for the food processing association, I can tell you that a difference between usa and canadian versions of food is very common with lots of products. For kraft dinner, the change in instructions has to do with healthier eating mandates by the government. Another product, worchestershire sauce, Canada consumes the original sauce, but the usa version has twice the amount of salt and sugar. Because that is what the usa consumers want. Canada has far stricter food safety and nutrition rules than the usa. Even our milk is different, because we are very strict about not allowing antibiotics and other chemicals that endanger human health.
David Henderson
Dec 2 2023 at 9:44am
Thanks to all the commenters above.
Occasionally I post on something on which I don’t have strong beliefs. This is one such case. It drew out some very good reasoning and facts from various commenters.
Michelle
Dec 3 2023 at 12:21pm
I’m fairly certain the Canadian version (always called KD, as long as I can remember), used to have the same instructions. I had made it so long from memory that I didn’t notice when it changed and I assumed that it was for “health” (health-perception maybe) reasons. Dude, if I was going for a healthy meal, I wouldn’t be standing here with a box of KD in my hands. 😄
David Henderson
Dec 4 2023 at 1:24pm
That was my vague recall too.
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