Mac and cheese sales spike

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Sales of boxed macaroni and cheese, a product category led by Northfield, Ill., based Kraft Foods, have experienced a significant rise.

The product, which debuted 70 years ago, posted 10 percent growth in 2007, due in part to soaring sales of single-serve microwaveable Easy Mac cups, which experienced a 50 percent rise in sales for the year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

Harry Balzer, vice president of consumer research firm NPD Group, said about one-third of the U.S. population and half of the country's children will feast on macaroni and cheese at some point during the next two weeks. That number marks a significant increase from 1984, when about 30 percent of the U.S. population and 40 percent of children in the country would have snacked on the popular pasta dish in a two-week period.

"It's almost always a main meal," he said.

Kraft introduced its first stovetop macaroni and cheese dinners, which included cheese sauce packets, in 1937, a time when people in the United States were searching for foods to help them compensate for dairy rations and difficulty purchasing meat.