Save Our Mac & Cheese
Posted August 25th, 2009 by Joan BladesSave our mac & cheese
Did you know that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is formulated differently for countries in Europe than for the U.S.?1 I didn’t either until I read The Unhealthy Truth, a book about the toxicity of America’s food supply.
The fact is, that in 2008, Kraft removed artificial colorings, like yellow #5, and chemical sweeteners, like aspartame, from the products that they distribute in Europe, Australia, and other developed countries due to consumer concern over scientific studies that link these synthetic ingredients to hyperactivity and asthma in children. But, they haven’t done the same thing here in the U.S.!2 Our voices are needed to make that change here too.
We’d love to have you join us in writing to the Kraft CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, a mother of two herself, requesting that Kraft remove these same ingredients from their products here in the U.S.
http://action.momsrising.org/cms/letter/campaign_27297/
Kraft took these chemicals and additives out of their European products. If we want Kraft to do this for us in the U.S., then Kraft needs to hear from us!
Join us in sending Kraft CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, a letter asking that Kraft value the health of our children as highly as they value the children in other countries. And please then share this email with friends and family so that they too can send a letter.
The vast majority of American homes have Kraft products.3 Together, we can affect change and have these ingredients removed from the products that Kraft distributes here in the U.S.
Here’s that link again to sign on to the letter in case you need it:
http://action.momsrising.org/cms/letter/campaign_27297/
Thank you greatly for your time!
[1] http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/allergykids-asthma-autism-461108
[2] The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It, page 175 (Random House 2009); Robyn O’Brien.
[3] http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/assets/pdf/2008_Kraft_Fact_Sheet.pdf
Joan Blades is co-founder of MomsRising and MoveOn, as well as co-author of a forthcoming book titled The Custom-Fit Workplace, to be released Labor Day 2010.
29 Comments
October 1, 2009 at 2:05 pm by TamiHi,
I just received the same corporate “yea rah for Kraft” reply. It was a laughable and feeble response about how they only use products certified by USFDA, and that they offer a line of organic products that might make me happier… suck it Kraft!
So my reply back goes something like this: Ummm, hello?, Kraft? this is me calling back saying “you can stick your Mac and Cheese and your “organic” products where the sun don’t shine. Not only am I personally boycotting all Kraft products, I am encouring my friends and family to join in and to spread the word.
Most sincerely yours,
A former Kraft customer
Tami
(I could have crafted a more eloquent response but they are so not worth the effort.)
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October 1, 2009 at 12:23 pm by Janice BurchI just wanted to share my response from Kraft regarding their Mac & Cheese. They’ve tried shifting responsibility back to the U.S. Government (not that I don’t think the government should support such changes in food production)…
Dear Valued Consumer,
We received your recent e-mail about our Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
We completely understand that as a parent, nothing is more important than your family’s health and well-being. That is one reason Kraft Foods is so dedicated to making the safety and quality of our products our top priority.
So that is why we follow the guidelines of government agencies that are responsible for the safety of our food. In the United States, Kraft Foods only uses ingredients that have been recognized as safe for food use in accordance with U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulations. We will continue to use the current ingredients, which are recognized as safe.
Our products around the globe are different to reflect local preferences and tastes. Yet we use the same standards to select ingredients, always putting safety first.
We know some people prefer products made without artificial ingredients so we now offer more choices. For products with no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors, you might want to consider Kraft Organic Macaroni & Cheese in White Cheddar or some of the Macaroni & Cheese dinner options in our Back to Nature line. We hope you’ll give them – and some of our other Back to Nature products – a try.
Just so you know, our Macaroni & Cheese products are sold primarily in the United States and Canada. Although we have a variation of pasta and cheese products in Scotland/northern England and Australia, neither has made any changes to their recipe since 2006.
Thank you for sharing your concerns. Your views on our products are very important to us and we take them to heart.
Sincerely,
Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations
This email was sent to: burchja@nsurg.wustl.edu
This email was sent by: Kraft Foods
PO Box Y Wilkes-Barre, PA 18703
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September 12, 2009 at 12:59 pm by D FieldingTo Peter Dakin:
Thank you for your response; it provided me with my laugh of the day. Why are you so angry, disrespectful and divisive? There are professionals out there who can help you — please seek them out before you physically or emotionally hurt yourself or others.
Good luck and God bless you!
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September 9, 2009 at 7:15 am by tablekraftI read your blog and you define the crank and cheese both are same. I have no idea about them thanks for it.
I am very happy know that your product supply many developed country I suggestion for you If your product supply the lot off developing country then the product demand on very high.
Thanks for give a very good information.
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August 28, 2009 at 11:02 am by Peter DakinActually, I don’t think Kraft should have to change anything unless they don’t list the ingredients on the box. If people are too ignorant, lazy, and just don’t care, hey, caveat emptor baby. Nobody makes people buy Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. I certainly don’t use it. Would everyone be so concerned if Kraft DIDN’T take out the chemicals in Europe? What difference does that make? — NONE.
Are there movements like this for EVERY product that contains aspartame or yellow #5? I think not. Why pick on Kraft? What’s the point of taking out these ingredients? So that people can eat their refined carbohydrates and pasteurized processed cheese food without a few chemicals? Look, even without the chemicals, Mac & Cheese is STILL garbage.
What a bunch of nosey, whining, liberal socialists you people are. Check out the groups that support you — AFL-CIO, ACORN, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, feminist.com, MoveOn.org, NOW, Planned Parenthood Associates in California, and on and on. This is not about “protecting the children”. It’s about wanting to control every aspect of our lives. Why not find something meaningful to do with your lives instead of expending so much energy on such insignificant drivel?
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nomad Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 pm
exactly.
if you buy junk, junk is what you get.
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I don’t understand why leaving something like dye out of the recipe would increase the cost. It seems to me it would decrease the cost.
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August 27, 2009 at 12:10 pm by MelanieOh please, what a coincidence that someone from Kraft wrote a post. Sounds like propaganda to me!
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August 26, 2009 at 9:45 pm by PhilLetter writing may help. If you really want to make an impact hit them in the pocketbook! Boycott Kraft Products until they address these issues. Here’s a link to get the ball rolling!
http://www.zazzle.com/boycott_kraft_tshirt-235025975448321743
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Kelly Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE FDA STANCE ON ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS
I not only work for a company in the natural foods industry, but I am also a graduate studuent at NYU in the Food Studies department. I have been exstensivley researching the topic of artificial foods dyes for the past year. Here is a paper I wrote detailing the artificial dye issue…
Toxic Rainbow: Are Artificial Food Colors Part of Your Balanced Diet?
Apple Jacks were my favorite cereal when I was a kid, but I was only allowed to have them when my family went on vacation, which was usually once or twice a year. This seemingly harmless cereal plagued my thoughts until we arrived at our destination. The box was fluorescent green and the sweet, crunchy, green and cream colored o’s had tiny flecks of red in them, hinting at a connection to an actual red delicious apple. Little did I know that the dazzling display of vibrant colors found in every bowl of Apple Jacks came from the petroleum refinery, not the apple orchard.
A study conducted by researchers at Southampton University in the United Kingdom and published in The Lancet on November 3, 2007 found a definitive link between children’s ingestion of many commonly used artificial food colors, the preservative sodium benzoate and hyperactivity. In response to these findings, the British Government took prompt action. According to the Food Standards Agency, the food regulatory agency in the UK, food manufacturers are being encouraged to voluntarily phase out the use of most artificial food colors by the end of 2009. Following the FSA’s actions, the European Commission ruled that any food products containing the “Southampton Six” must display warning labels on their packaging by 2010. In the US, little has been done to curb our own food manufacturer’s use of artificial food colors, despite the new evidence presented by the Southampton study.
Most of the world’s leading food manufacturers have responded to the directives of the FSA and the European Commission, reformulating products sold in Europe with natural colors but leaving artificial colors in those same products sold in the United States. In the UK, Fanta Orange soda obtains its color from pumpkin and carrot extracts, while in the US it is colored with Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 6. Nestlé, the largest food manufacturer in the world, has already replaced many of their most popular candies and snacks with all-natural colors, including Smarties, the European equivalent to M&M’s. Even McDonald’s has adjusted their Strawberry Sundae recipe sold in the UK, leaving out Red No. 40 and replacing it with real strawberries, however in the US, Red No. 40 remains.
Over the past 50 years, artificial colors have gradually saturated the processed food industry, coloring everything from candy to fruit juice. Low prices and supportive regulation have enticed food manufacturers to become increasingly reliant on artificial colors as a means of attaining aesthetic perfection. At what point did consumers accept the idea that a children’s drink like Kool Aid needed to be the perfect hue of red, blue or green to be attractive enough to buy, regardless of its nutritive value? It seems that in the United States we have reached a point of complacence about food additives. Do we assume that what the FDA deems acceptable couldn’t possibly do us any harm? What if the FDA is wrong?
Synthetic foods dyes have been used to color food in the United States for over 150 years. According to a report published by the FDA, the first synthetic food dyes were called “coal-tar colors” because they were produced from the by-products of coal processing. Today, synthetic food dyes are not only produced from the by-products of coal processing, but are also derived from petroleum.
In the 1880’s the federal government began overseeing the use of “coal-tar” colors in the use of food, approving their use in butter and cheese. As one might expect, as a result of improved science and research, along with several public health scares, the regulation of food color additives has improved. Unfortunately, regulatory improvements in the Unites States often come after a health scare. According to an FDA report, in the fall of 1950 many children became sick from eating Halloween candy that contained the color additive FD&C Orange No. 1. As a result of this incident, the FDA decided to review all of the color additives that were approved for use in food at that time. They found that many of the approved colors “caused serious adverse effects” and therefore de-listed those colors.
According to the FDA, Americans consume five times more artificial food dye today than they did just thirty years ago. After spending an hour at Stop and Shop supermarket in the suburbs of New York City, it becomes clear just how ubiquitous the use of synthetic color in food has become. Aisle after aisle, artificial colors are in almost everything, from the blindingly orange Doritos in the snack section to the multicolored Trix yogurt in the dairy section. Children consume the majority of artificially colored food products, as food makers often use brightly hued colors to appeal to a child’s sensibilities. According to Dr. John Warner, the lead researcher of the Southampton study, “significant positive changes in the amount and level of childhood hyperactivity could be achieved by removing artificial colors and preservatives from the food supply”.
The ingredient list on each bag of M&M’s sold in the United States reveals that those seemingly innocuous candies contain a complete spectrum of artificial food dyes. Yellow No.5, Blue No. 1, Red No.40, Yellow No. 6, and Blue No.2 is the complete list of artificial colors contained in one bag of M&M’s. What makes up Blue No.2 exactly? As published on the FDA’s website, arsenic, lead, mercury and formaldehyde are among the very long list of chemicals and metals that make up Blue No. 2. With such toxic and life threatening ingredients, the FDA sets recommended daily intakes for all approved synthetic food dyes. Considering the proportion of food products that contain artificial food dyes, it is easy to understand why the European authorities heeded Dr. Warner’s advice.
Jennifer Flannery, a mother of four children under the age of nine, voiced her frustration over this issue. “It’s so hard to keep the kids away from it. I try to feed my kids a healthy diet, but even the Life cereal I bought that I thought didn’t have any fake colors, ended up having Yellow No.5! Why do they need color in that cereal anyways? The main problem is that most parents don’t know about this issue, you never even hear about it in the news”.
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Hi. I’m a Kraft Foods employee. I saw your post about Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and want to share some info with you.
We completely understand that as a parent, nothing is more important than your family’s health and well-being. Many of us are parents, too and we share your goal of providing good food for our families. That is one reason Kraft Foods is so dedicated to making the safety and quality of our products our top priority.
And that is why we follow the guidelines of government agencies that are responsible for the safety of our food. So in the United States, Kraft Foods only uses ingredients that have been approved and deemed safe for food use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). We will continue to use current, approved ingredients.
Our products around the globe are different to reflect local preferences and tastes. Yet we use the same standards to select ingredients, always putting safety first.
We know some people prefer products made without artificial ingredients. As this interest has grown, we’ve expanded our choices. Our Kraft Organic Macaroni & Cheese in White Cheddar has no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors. And our Back to Nature line offers some Macaroni & Cheese dinner options that have no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors. We hope you’ll give them – and some of our other Back to Nature products – a try.
Thank you for raising your concerns. Your views on our products are very important to us and we take them to heart. Your candid feedback helps us a great deal.
Joyce Hodel
P.S. Just so you know for the future, our Macaroni & Cheese products are sold primarily in the United States and Canada. We currently do not offer these products for sale in the European Union.
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Tammy Graves Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 10:06 pm
@Joyce Hodel,
Funny the European Union has no demand or desire for Kraft Mac & Cheese. It’s probably because their governments and consumer advocates are keeping the ingredient, milk protein concentrates, out of their food supply.
Check the ingredient list. Milk Protein Concentrates are in Kraft Mac & Cheese. They are an ingredient of UNKNOWN ORIGIN. That’s right. FDA cannot tell you where they come from because they are imported as industrial product – for glue making.
Stop the Milk Protein Concentrate Imports. Sen. Schumer in NY has a bill to support, s.1645. Remember how well China made baby formula? Well, a large majority of milk protein concentrates do come from China. Hey, they have galvanized, lead-lined pipes there. Yummy.
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If anyone is interested, my son is ADHD and Dyslexic. We tried meds, but they were TERRIBLE, now he is on the Feingold diet which removes all these harmful foods from his diet. It is amazing to see how happy and centered he is when these foods are out of his system. I tell you if your child suffers from these issues, take a look at Feingold. It is a bit of work to follow, but for the good of your child and family it is worth every minute!!! If you join, they send a book full of the stuff by brand and product that is safe. Not all Organic/natural is ok for this issue, so it is good to look. Good luck to you all!
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