"Per K. Off" CROSS POSTER wrote:
> I remember a slice of American cheese used to taste really good and
> flavorful and now it's like they are all bland. �What happened?
>
> Seriously, I know I'm not the only one that has noticed this over the
> years.
>
> What do you think the reason is for the taste going down in American
> cheese over the years?

The only reason is that you're not buying American cheese. You're
buying packages of those individually wrapped faux cheese slices (some
are real cheese but extremely poor quality) , they all taste awful.
If you buy your American cheese at the deli, fresh sliced from a big
block, then you will recieve the same product that has essentially
gone unchanged for a hundred years. Many of the major dairies, like
Land O Lakes, produce quality American cheese. And don't worry about
the yellow color, it's natural anetto, the same colorant that's been
used in the world's finest Cheddar for over a hundred years, and most
butter. Dying cheese yellow began a long time ago in the UK by the
cheddar makers. People have become so used to the coloring of food
that it has become traditional, people do eat primarily with their
eyes. The only reason dairy products are dyed is so the makers have a
way to distinguish their product... each uses a particular formula
that's different for each manufacturer, like a fingerprint. The
different brands of cheeses and butters are a very slightly different
shade of yellow... nowadays a spectrometer reading is used to ID
against batch numbers within each brand.,, even white American cheese
is not snow white, it contains some amount of dye.