Miracle Whip
The Miracle Whip® brand finds its origins in both the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression. Miracle Whip was created to be a more affordable mayonnaise during the Great Depression, by combining the ingredients of mayonnaise with cheaper salad dressing. This combination of ingredients typically cannot be mixed together with separating, but Kraft had an ingenious new patented machine that could continuously receive ingredients and thoroughly emulsify the ingredients to form a resulting stable spread. The machine was displayed at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and worked so well that it was dubbed the “Miracle Whip Machine.” When the product was finally released to the public, Kraft named it after the machine that made it possible and the Miracle Whip brand was born (not to be confused with the COOL WHIP® brand).
It is creamy, it is white, and it shares a similar consistency… So why is Miracle Whip a brand of salad dressing and not mayonnaise? Believe it or not, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has “requirements for specific standardized food dressings and flavorings,” including for food dressing labeled as “mayonnaise.” Specifically, 21 CFR 169.140 [5] requires that “mayonnaise” contains not less than 65 percent by weight of vegetable oil. Miracle Whip dressing contains less than 65 percent vegetable oil, so it cannot legally be labeled as a mayonnaise.
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[1] Miracle Whip, https://www.kraftheinz.com/miracle-whip.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 308,260, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71340290&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,103,423, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75184663&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] Miracle Whip Vs. Mayo: A Comprehensive Comparison, SOUTHERN LIVING, last updated August 15, 2024, and available at https://www.southernliving.com/is-miracle-whip-mayonnaise-7852261; What Is Miracle Whip, the Mayonnaise-Like Salad Dressing?, COUNTRY LIVING, posted June 20, 2024, and available at https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a61155014/miracle-whip-vs-mayonnaise/; The Untold Truth Of Miracle Whip, MASHED, last updated January 30, 2023, and available at https://www.mashed.com/206199/the-untold-truth-of-miracle-whip/; A Brief History of Miracle Whip, GROG TO GRITS, posted June 10, 2015, and available at https://www.grogtogrits.com/?p=277.
[5] 21 CFR 169.140 – Mayonnaise, available at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=169.140.