The Popular UK Canned Mac And Cheese That's Not Worth The Price, According To Reddit

Not long after I moved to Scotland to get my Masters degree in 2022, I went into a Tesco looking for the staple of budget-conscious college students everywhere: Kraft mac and cheese. I spent a few harrowing minutes pacing up and down the aisle, frantically looking for the familiar blue box of my childhood before I realized their version of Kraft came in a red box and was instead called "Cheesey Pasta." While it wasn't what I was initially searching for, it was certainly better than another alternative on the shelf: Heinz tinned macaroni and cheese.

You won't find too many fans of Heinz tinned mac and cheese on social media. One Reddit post lamented that it tastes like "it's made by someone's feet", while another user declared that it was "watery, expensive, and terrible." Wait a second — expensive? Yes, you heard that right; it goes for two pounds a can (or $2.60 in US terms). That might not sound very expensive, but for what you're getting, it's a veritable king's ransom. (Not that a health nut like King Charles III, with his six options of honey a day, would ever eat such a thing.)

You might be wondering why Heinz — you know, the ketchup company — would sell canned mac and cheese in the first place, let alone only in the United Kingdom. They've seemed happy to let Chef Boyardee corner the market on vaguely unsavory canned pasta here in America, so why do they have such a presence in old Blighty? Well, in the UK, Heinz is less associated with condiments (although they sell those too) and more associated with canned goods. 

The most famous example is Heinz Baked Beans, which were declared an essential food item in the UK during World War II and are now famously spread on toast. (If it sounds weird, it's because you're imagining the darker, molasses-y beans you'll find in America; UK beans have a tart tomato flavor.) But Heinz sells plenty of other canned foods in the UK as well, including a variety of soups, pasta hoops (sort of like American Spaghetti-Os), and, indeed, macaroni and cheese. Most of these products aren't available in the United States unless you live near a UK import store or order it from an online importer — and doing that kind of defeats the purpose of these affordable meals, doesn't it?