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I, too, hope this passes. Let's try to honest about what we're eating and where or what it's coming from. I do have to confess that during the college years, that blue box was a staple among my housemates; it was also known as Kraft Mac&Glue.

It still amazes me that such outright lies can be placed on one of our most precious commodities. People believe advertising, it's a sad thing, but it's true. We need to rescind the allowance of companies labeling their wares as things they are not. It's just plain false advertising, and we wouldn't allow it elsewhere - why on foodstuffs?

@jamieforrest--that's kind of interesting for a couple of reasons.
It was more than 20 years ago that we called it Mac&Glue and that was in Potsdam, NY. I believe I was the one who started the nick name and it was probably due to the fact that my grandfather was a dairy farmer there in Northern NYS. In fact, he used to brag to his fellow farmers that there wasn't a cheese too sharp for his granddaughter's tongue (That was when I was around 3 or 4 years old). I just hadn't had processed food like that until college (except for cheese doodles). And that orange stuff does taste more like glue than cheese and seems act more as a binder than anything else.
Here I am now, living in a 'burb of Syracuse and the article you point out is from Syracuse.com. Made me smile and I'll have to go look for the article now. I usually just use Syracuse.com to get the Mens' SU Basketball schedule or to place a classified. Shame on me for not reading it more often. And I guess the next time my husband is drinking a Molson, I'll be thinking about the label glue's relation to that little blue box.

I think that anyone who cares that it's not really cheese already knows it's not really cheese. And anyone who doesn't already recognize that detail won't notice (and/or care) if it's renamed to cheese product. They could rename it "Macaroni and Crap" and it would remain one of my comfort foods (though I do prefer Hodgson Mill's whole wheat mac and cheese, which actually does list "cheese" as an ingredient, though you'd have to be dumb to think it's going to be anything like making homemade macaroni and cheese with high quality cheese).

The cheese thing doesn't bother me nearly as much as seeing "organic wheat flour" listed on bread, since I feel like companies are taking advantage of the "I'm just starting to make an effort to eat healthy" group and deliberately trying to deceive the customer into thinking it's whole wheat. Particularly when it's labelled as "whole wheat bread," yet "organic wheat flour" is the first ingredient and "whole wheat" isn't until halfway down the list.

Alchemical indeed! Kraft has succeeded in turning lead into gold!

Put me in the "doesn't matter" camp. You know what you're getting with the Blue Box. It's never going to be a substitute for homemade gooey goodness, but changing the name won't change what's in the box.

I agree that the labeling should be changed, if for no other reason than truth in advertising. However, it is interesting to note that in the Figs cookbook, none other than Todd English insists upon using Cabot (I think) powdered cheddar for his mac and cheese recipe. I don't recall exactly what the headnote said, but it is something to the effect of the way the powder helps the sauce come together. I wasn't turned off from trying the recipe because of the "cheese" powder itself - more because it is only available by mail order.

What I think is kind of sneaky is nutrition labeling of packaged foods; you look at calories/fat/sodiumper serving and you realize the "serving" is tiny.

I am surprised this legislation isn't already in place. There are some products that are already labelled as "cheese products." Why do so if it isn't required? (I am thinking specifically of spray cheese, which seemed really delicious to me another life ago.)

There are people who think it's real cheese? Don't they read ingredients? Okay, I know that not everyone does and so that question is somewhat rhetorical, but they should. In general people should inform themselves. Food manufacturers are accountable but so are consumers who don't read the packaging but have the ability to do so. To me it's common sense.

I'm sometimes amazed that companies will put warnings on packaging to cover their asses because people lack common sense. The non-food related "Avoid contact with eyes" is a favourite, as is the food-related "Contents are hot." You mean, hot coffee can burn you if spilled? All because some guy decided to sue McDonald's once. I'm sorry, but if you're too dumb to realize the risk of hot coffee you deserve to get burned. Natural selection. Survival of the fittest. Thinning the herd.

That all said, I'm all for transparency, even if it's bad for PR.

I have to say i am for this legislation. I am one of those that understands that yes, Kraft M&C is not real cheese. But i know that through heresay and by inferring that neon orange powder didn't really originate from a cow. If you asked me to look at the ingredients, which all SOUND vaguely cheese & milk related (whey protein, milk concentrate, etc) i would not automatically assume its NOT cheese. Why? Because i don't understand the laws that govern ingredients lists and i am not an expert cheese maker, and furthermore, my favorite cheeses are fresh and not processed, and therefore don't have an ingredient list for me to compare against. So yea, i would assume that whey stuff and milk stuff is somehow related to cheese, sure.

Slap a "cheese product" label on that baby already!

Kraft was my holy grail of mac and cheese for years. I mourned its loss from my kitchen when I got married and converted to a kosher kitchen. I've had it a few times since then, and I realized the real stuff is much better. Shocking, I know, but for someone who grew up on Kraft, it's hard to break the habit. I don't think I ever paid attention at the time if it was real cheese. I probably wouldn't have cared. Now I do, of course!

@mncheese: Kraft isn't kosher? We had it growing up, but my mom would sometimes buy non certified/hechshered food items if the ingredient list looked okay. Wacky Mac is indeed kosher. One of my synagogues sells boxes of it to use as graggers on Purim, then donates the boxes - as well as the money raised - to the hungry. It's two mitzvahs in one.

I don't think people will care...I mean, I doubt they will notice the product part. Like calling chocolate that's not really chocolate "chocolate candy" if I didn't know that's what it meant I'll just think they are being redundant.

The Annie's brand is very good -- more of a craft as opposed to Kraft item -- and we always support Bernie the Bunny in all his products.