real american cheese is mostly made from a mix of other real cheeses, processed with some other stuff into a new thing.
the individually wrapped slices are less actual cheese and may not even contain enough to legally be called “cheese”.
so basically there are really different grades of american cheese, it is not all exactly the same thing. see the labels chart in the middle of this article:
Wait. Aren’t these the same thing?
real american cheese is mostly made from a mix of other real cheeses, processed with some other stuff into a new thing.
the individually wrapped slices are less actual cheese and may not even contain enough to legally be called “cheese”.
so basically there are really different grades of american cheese, it is not all exactly the same thing. see the labels chart in the middle of this article:
https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-really-in-american-cheese