Known as the ultimate comfort food cuisine, Kraft mac & cheese will be making a big change to their popular dinners: The company announced in a press release that they will remove preservatives and artificial dyes from their iconic mac ‘n cheese by January 2016.
According to CBS News, Kraft vowed to remove the artificial dyes from the notoriously fluorescent-orange powder, and will replace them with naturally produced coloring ingredients such as paprika, annatto, and turmeric. (They have already removed the coloring from more child-centric packages of mac ‘n cheese, such as the SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shapes.) The company added that the “iconic blue box” will simply have a healthier reformulation, but the taste will remain unchanged.
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This decision comes after mounting consumer complaints about the company, such as food activist Vani Hari in her blog, foodbabe.com. Hari’s Change.org petition urged the company to remove artificial dyes that may be harmful to eat. After Kraft’s recent announcement, the food activist shared her excitement for change on her most recent blog post.
Kraft emphasized that they listened to consumers. “We’ve met with families in their homes and watched them prepare Kraft Mac & Cheese in their kitchens. They told us they want to feel good about the foods they eat and serve their families, including everything from improved nutrition to simpler ingredients,” said Triona Schmelter, Vice President of Marketing, Meals, said in their most recent press release.
This change for a healthier meal isn’t entirely new for Kraft. Earlier in 2014, the company launched Kraft Mac & Cheese Boxed Shapes with six grams of whole grains per serving, reduced saturated fat by 25% and no synthetic colors.
All in all, we’re excited for this healthy change … although if we’re being honest, we might miss that bright-orange color we remember from our childhood.
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