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The Cheese That Changed Everything (S2, E4) | The Food That Built America | Full Episode

2025-08-07 Entertainment
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HISTORY
HISTORY
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The Cheese Wars: How Kraft Outmaneuvered Pabst During Prohibition

Discover the ingenious process innovations by James Kraft and the surprising pivot by the Pabst brothers that defined the modern American food landscape. Learn how one visionary secured a patent that fundamentally shifted control of the dairy industry.

Short Summary

  • James Kraft solved dairy spoilage by inventing shelf-stable, pasteurized processed cheese, starting his empire from $65.
  • The rise of Prohibition forced the massive Pabst Brewing Company to pivot into cheese production to survive, creating the rival product Pabst-ett.
  • Kraft leveraged his early patent success and a World War I government contract to build national scale before Pabst entered the cheese market.
  • A crucial patent infringement lawsuit ultimately forced Pabst to pay licensing fees to Kraft, securing Kraft's dominance when Prohibition ended.

This episode details the parallel and ultimately colliding histories of two food titans: James Kraft, who revolutionized cheesemaking, and the Pabst brothers, who navigated disaster by applying brewing infrastructure to dairy production. Understand the strategic risks, technological leaps, and complex legal maneuvers that solidified processed cheese as an American staple.

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Description

At the turn of the 20th century, James Kraft challenges thousands of years of cheese-making tradition and forever alters the dairy industry with his new cheese innovation. Meanwhile, the Pabst brothers are desperate to keep their successful beer empire solvent through Prohibition. Season 2, Episode 4, "American Cheese." Watch The Food That Built America, New Episodes Sunday at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at http://history.com/schedule. #TheFoodThatBuiltAmerica Subscribe for more from The Food That Built America and other great The HISTORY Channel shows: http://histv.co/SubscribeHistoryYT Watch more The Food That Built America on YouTube in this playlist: http://histv.co/TheFoodThatBuiltAmerica Check out exclusive The HISTORY Channel content: History Newsletter - https://histv.co/newsletter Website - https://histv.co/History Facebook - https://histv.co/Facebook Twitter - https://histv.co/Twitter For generations of Americans, food titans like Henry Heinz, Milton Hershey, John and Will Kellogg, C.W. Post and the McDonald brothers have literally been household names, but you don’t know their stories. Before they were brand names, they were brilliant, sometimes ruthless, visionaries who revolutionized food and changed the landscape of America forever. This miniseries event will tell the fascinating stories of the people behind the food that built America – those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America’s heart through its stomach, and along the way built cities, invented new technologies and helped win wars. The HISTORY® Channel, a division of A+E Networks, is the premier destination for historical storytelling. From best-in-class documentary events, to a signature slate of industry leading nonfiction series and premium fact-based scripted programming, The HISTORY® Channel serves as the most trustworthy source of informational entertainment in media. The HISTORY® channel has been named the #1 U.S. TV network in buzz for seven consecutive years by YouGov BrandIndex, and a top favorite TV network by Beta Research Corporation. For a deeper dive, visit history.com or follow @history on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. For additional press materials visit the A+E Networks Press Center at http://press.aenetworks.com.

Top Comments (10)

@brianperez7695 2025-08-18

The background music sounds as if they were getting ready to go on a spy mission rather than inventing new types of cheeses

182 6 replies
@pianofixer898 2025-08-18

It’s nice to see some quality programming out of History Channel again. They went through a bit of a dark age for a while but this is almost on par with their late 90’s early 2000’s content.

122 7 replies
@scubatrucker6806 2025-08-14

Ok now everyone get up off the couch or the toilet and go in the kitchen and make a Grilled Cheese sandwich with bowl of Tomato soup❤❤

86 9 replies
@az03161979 2025-08-08

Why does the music sound like it belongs in a horror film score? Should I be afraid of cheese???

80 9 replies
@richardcorsillo9819 2025-08-16

History Channel invented a new way to get viewers to stay glued to a screen for the whole episode, in one sitting. That shouldn't be overlooked when discussing amazing feats.

80 7 replies
@What-are-you-looking-at-d4t 2025-10-08

Now this is one of the longest commercials that I've ever seen.

15 1 replies
@jacqueslandry2319 2025-08-12

I guess I'm not eating enough cheese..I Love your scary cheese music, very dramatic

15
@davidcarbone3385 2025-10-19

wow an episode where two companies help one another and it works out well

10
@TheOtherBill 2026-01-12

There's a brief mention of emulsifying salts but it's really sodium citrate. Kraft discovering that adding it to cheese is what enables it to melt and flow. I'm surprised they didn't emphasize how important it is.

8
@sydtropolis 2026-02-06

Why hasn't this story become a movie? We got McDonalds, Flamin' Hot, and even the Pop-Tart movie. I think this one could be good, too.

4

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