Mac & Cheese at Arby's

[IndyRob]

The last time I was at an Arby's drive through, I belatedly noticed the they were offering Kraft branded Macaroni & Cheese as a side item on their value menu. I was immediately intrigued but had already ordered.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Familiar, cheap, comfort food that is virtually-idiot proof and (probably) included some sort of mutually beneficial marketing arrangement.

So today I had 30 minutes for lunch which presented an opportunity to return for a sampling of said fare.

Somehow, by unknown means which evade my imagination entirely, Arby's have managed to screw up the preparation of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Upon unlidding the expected styrofoam container, I found a top surface that was beginning to dry out. Okay, well they obviously don't do these to order. They're probably sitting under heat lamps or some such thing, and this is a new item that they're not moving quickly yet. But underneath lurked a milky, decidedly non-faux-cheese tasting bland failure. Not even yellowish.

Perhaps this was a result of a single team member with a lax manager. But I imagine that with a partner such as Kraft, which has quite a lot on the line in this deal, they would have been meticulous in their training.

Has anyone else tried the Arby's Mac & Cheese? This episode makes me want to find another store to see if it was a fluke.

[IndyRob]

Nutr. Info. Per Gram

Arby's Kraft Arby's Kraft

Serving Size (g)113 70

Calories 170 259 1.5044 3.7000

Fat 5 3 0.0442 0.0429

Cholesterol 10 10 0.0885 0.1429

Sodium 0.35 0.561 0.0031 0.0080

Carbohydrates 25 48 0.2212 0.6857

Protein 6 11 0.0531 0.1571

Edited January 31, 2012 by IndyRob (log)

[IndyRob]

Well, the previous post went awry. I'll try to explain the gobbeldygook above.

I had attempted to post a table showing what I found based on the Arby's Mac & Cheese Nutritional Info vs, the KRAFT Macaroni and Cheese Dinner Original Flavor, unprepared

In short, the KRAFT Mac & Cheese is twice the calories per gram than what Arby's claims - As well as twice the sodium, carbs and protein.

ETA - This appears to be a case of Arby's 'dumbing down' KRAFT's product for their own nutritional sheets. If true, bad move by KRAFT.

[Lisa Shock]

I checked it against easy mac, and again the numbers are off. The amount of fat per calorie is almost double in the Arby's product. Chances are, this was a special blend made just for them, or, their data sheet is incorrect.