It is made by Kraft Foods Group (or former parent company Mondelez internationally) and traditionally cardboard-boxed with dried macaroni pasta and a packet of processed cheese powder.

Commercially, the line has evolved, with deluxe varieties marketed with liquid processed cheese and microwavable frozen mac-and-cheese meals.

The product's innovation, at the time of the Great Depression, was to conveniently market nonperishable dried macaroni noodles together with a processed cheese powder.

While living in Chicago, James Lewis Kraft of Fort Erie, Ontario, began to build his cheese business after winning a patent for one such method in 1916.

The meal is the most popular grocery item in the country,[21] where "Kraft Dinner" has an iconic status and has become a generic trademark of sorts for macaroni and cheese.

[23] Pundit Rex Murphy wrote that "Kraft Dinner revolves in that all-but-unobtainable orbit of the Tim Hortons doughnut and the A&W Teen Burger.

"[24] Douglas Coupland wrote that "cheese plays a weirdly large dietary role in the lives of Canadians, who have a more intimate and intense relationship with Kraft food products than the citizens of any other country.

[19] As a measure of the product's Canadian popularity, its Facebook page, KD Battle Zone, attracted 270,000 fans, despite there being no prizes for the contest.

[23] Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies refer to the product in their popular song "If I Had $1000000", indicating that they would continue to eat the inexpensive foodstuff even if they were millionaires.

[27] During the same election former Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that "I'll never be able to give my kids a billion-dollar company, but Laureen and I are saving for their education.

She notably draws attention to Canada being unique in favouring a manufactured food product (made by a foreign company) as its national dish at the expense of local cheeses.

Chapman's article is structured around this question, from the first page:But what does it mean if a national dish is manufactured, formulated by scientists in a laboratory in Glenview, Illinois, and sold back to us by the second-largest food company in the world?

Consequently, university students protesting government funding cuts and tuition hikes have often used Kraft Dinner as a prop to draw attention to their plight.

Although many people have their personal preferences for quantities of added ingredients, the box has a "classic prep" list that says to use 6 cups water, 1 Tbsp.

[citation needed] New product lines using different flavours and pasta shapes have been introduced over the decades, and shelf life has increased at various times.

It represents a line of Kraft macaroni and cheese products with no artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives and added ingredients like cauliflower, oats, or flax seed blended into the noodles.

[41] In Canada, Kraft has advertising programs intended to make the meal appealing to newly arrived immigrant groups.

In its last act of 2009, the Irving, Texas city council made Kraft Macaroni and Cheese the official sponsor of the demolition.

A national essay contest directed at children who "have made a difference in their community" was held with the winner allowed to push the button initiating the controlled demolition.