By Melissa Spady (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: March 27, 2013
I can say with a degree of certainty that we’ve all seen that distinct blue and yellow box in the cupboard at one point in our lives. Kraft Dinner is such a staple North American meal that in 2012 The Walrus named it Canada’s national food. Kraft’s macaroni and cheese in a box is infamous, which is why Lisa Leake and Vani Hari decided to target them in their campaign to educate Americans about food dyes and the potential harm of ingesting them.
“Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is an iconic American food product,” said Leake on the Dr. Oz Show. “You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has not had this product at one time or another, and Kraft is such a large food company that we felt they are in the position to become the leader in voluntary removing these dyes in the United States.”
Kraft products in America as well as Canada are currently home to Yellow #5 and #6 dyes. Derived from petroleum, a chemical involved in gasoline, tar and asphalt, these additives are man-made in a laboratory, provide no nutritional value and are only included for aesthetic purposes. It feels almost redundant to ask: why are they in our food?
Kraft Dinner’s fluorescent orange glow is part of the traditional image that we have grown to love over the years, but is it necessary to include these dyes in order to maintain that image? Leake and Hari’s main argument is that Kraft manufactures products without these dyes for other countries that have banned food additives, but still uses them unabashedly in their North American versions.
These other versions use beta-carotene and paprika extract to ensure that traditional image of macaroni and cheese is preserved, but what does that do to change our beloved Kraft Dinner? Leake and Hari posted a video with their petition on change.org, putting each box to the test. On the original, and later on a Dr. Oz Show segment, it was found the taste and colour to be near identical.
The petition has garnered over 250,000 signatures, all urging Kraft to remove these dyes from their products. Lynne Galia, of Kraft Foods Corporate, issued a statement to the pair, “The safety and quality of our products is our highest priority and we take consumer concerns very seriously. We carefully follow the laws and regulations in the countries where our products are sold. So in the US, we only use colours that are approved and deemed safe for food use by the FDA.” Galia also told MSN moneyNOW that Kraft “also offers 14 varieties of macaroni and cheese that are made without added food colours or with natural food colours, such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Organic White Cheddar.” The Centre of Science in the Public Interest has linked these additives to hyperactivity in children, allergic reactions and cancer, and previously recommended the removal of Yellow #6.
Despite these links, there is not yet enough conclusive scientific evidence to say these food additives and health problems are absolutely connected. On the Dr. Oz Show however, Leake and Hari read emails from concerned parents who have seen a reduction of hyperactivity, skin problems and breathing conditions in their children after removing Kraft and other products with dyes from their cupboards in a few short weeks
The debate continues to boil and the defence of choice comes into play. Consumers can simply choose not to feed their families Kraft products after being informed of the threat artificial dyes pose but as Leake and Hari noted in their Dr. Oz segment, there are over 10 different boxes from Kraft that are specifically-geared towards children and none of these are the products without dyes or additives. The issue now delves into the underlying morals and ethical decisions made by a corporation. Platforming on an FDA approval can be seen as a steadfast decision by Kraft to some, but in a changing society it has already caused the business to lose loyal customers and may continue to do so if they don’t change their tune.
