One company’s obsessive, decade-long quest to make American cheese that’s actually cheese

A secret R&D lab, countless grilled cheese sandwiches, the perfect cheese pull: the untold story of how Sargento defied the odds—and beat Kraft—to improve on the American classic.

[Photos: courtesy Sargento]

Bad, yet still pretty good, American cheese refuses to expire—and not just because of all the preservatives.

American cheese—pasteurized, processed, and super-melty—is, for better or worse, arguably the 20th century’s most iconic food product. And yes, “pasteurized, processed cheese food” is what federal regulators call it instead of “cheese.” It is a paradox embraced shamelessly by some of the most elite........

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