How many of us grew up eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese? I know I did. In fact, I continued to eat it into adulthood, and I’ve been known to feed it to my kids from time to time. Fortunately, avoiding wheat takes foods like mac and cheese off the menu, but according to many, there’s something much more concerning about products like Kraft Mac & Cheese that contain artificial colors.
Back in the 1980s, I remember the big deal with red M&Ms. Then, in the 1990s, I started hearing about people who were “allergic” to Red No. 40. Finally, in the last decade, I started to hear about folks who claimed Red No. 40 made ADHD symptoms worse and caused migraines. I even have a friend who’s sensitive to Yellow No. 5. Never in all that time though did I know that these dyes (and others) were banned in Europe. Until I heard Mira and Dr. Jayson Calton on one of Jimmy Moore’s podcasts, I had no idea that these substances were problematic. I mean, of COURSE I advocate eating real food, but my thought process went something like, “They’re just dyes. They can’t be that big a deal.”
So after being educated by the Caltons’ work (among others), it didn’t surprise me one bit that folks were going after Kraft Mac & Cheese. It’s not like Kraft is worse than other manufacturers, but they’re huge which makes them an easy target.
Honestly, I don’t get it. Is it really that important for Americans to have yellower cheese? The European product without the controversial dyes tastes just as good. Do Americans deserve a little hyperactivity and cancer with their cheese?
When doing some reading for this blog post, I learned about the degrees to which these dyes have invaded our food supply. For instance, do you know that there’s a dye used to make orange peels more orange? So a person might use some orange zest in a recipe and end up eating a dye that isn’t cleared for consumption. Food scientists at these big companies are doing everything they can to give their products an upper leg, and in the process, it’s making us sick and fat!
I’m not claiming that we should declare an all-out war on Kraft specifically. They’re not the only company that does this sort of thing. We as consumers need to be more educated though, and I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but it’s not always that easy these days.
Related Links
- Moms petition to remove yellow dye in Kraft’s Mac and Cheese, banned from other countries — WRTV-6, Indianapolis
- Rich Food Poor Food: The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing System (GPS) by Mira and Dr. Jayson Calton
- The Caltons Expose Ingredients that are BANNED in Other Countries — YouTube video from a FOX interview