What Gives American Cheese Its Iconic Yellow Color?

Whether you think it's an affront to dairy everywhere or herald it as the best melting cheese for burgers and casserole bakes, American cheese is firmly a national icon. The gooey, square slices neatly packaged in plastic are as exemplary of American cuisine as apple pie and hot dogs. The invention of Kraft Singles changed the cheese world, spearheading the production of pre-packaged, shippable cheese slices.

Central to the Singles' identity is their shiny, cartoonish hue, but it might surprise you to learn that this coloring is all-natural, not chemical. American cheese's classic crayon orange-yellow color often comes from annatto. Annatto is made from the seeds of the achiote tree or "bixa orellana," and is regularly used as a natural food coloring. The plant, which grows in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines, gives butter, cheeses, smoked fish and some snack foods like Goldfish their yellow-orange color. Seventy percent of natural food coloring can be attributed to annatto, reports Healthline, and the seeds are also used in cosmetics, paints, and fabric.

What is in American cheese besides annatto?

Oftentimes a simple slice of American cheese is actually an amalgamation of a number of other, less controversial varieties of cheese, like cheddar, Colby, and Swiss, according to Healthline. Production processes vary; however, typically, this cheese mix is then combined with an emulsifying agent. Though the product has cheese at its core, the FDA does not consider American cheese "real cheese" and instead calls it "pasteurized process cheese food."

While James Lewis Kraft pioneered the American cheese industry in the United States, the cheese-making method actually has its origins in Europe. In the Early 1900s, Swiss cheese scientists Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler were experimenting with adding sodium citrate to melted cheese to extend the product's shelf life. Kraft's process, developed just a few years later, involved pouring hot, melted cheese on a cold surface and cutting it into squares. Subsequently, the iconic individually packed American cheese slices made their debut in 1965, permanently changing cheese aisles and lunch boxes everywhere.

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