A program by Melanie Villines

How did Alpha-Bits cereal, Lunchables, Stove Top stuffing, Fig Newtons, and hundreds of other Kraft Foods products get their start? The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese tells the stories behind the products – and the people behind the brands. Thanks to these inventors, soldiers enjoyed wholesome rations during WWI and WWII. Americans prepared affordable meals with Miracle Whip amid the Great Depression, and astronauts quenched their thirst with Tang while on space missions. Many Kraft Foods brands have become icons – and part of our personal histories: a Jell-O mold at a family gathering, Oscar Mayer hot dogs around the campfire, an after-school snack of Oreo cookies, a college meal of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The stories in the book reveal the human side of product development – and demonstrate the passion and commitment needed to bring new products to market.

Melanie Villines is a freelance writer who specializes in projects for scientific, health care, and pharmaceutical firms. She is also known for her creative writing – and is a published novelist, produced playwright, award-winning screenwriter, and produced television writer. In late 1999, she began the research for The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese – eventually conducting over 200 interviews with Kraft Foods inventors – and completed the writing in 2004.

Program hosted at Roosevelt University.