Yahoo – AFP,
21 April 2015
Washington (AFP) - Consumer activists cheered Tuesday, but some comfort food fans booed, after Kraft Foods Group said it will stop using artificial coloring in its iconic Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product.
Kraft Foods Group will stop using artificial coloring in its iconic Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product (AFP Photo/Kevork Djansezian) |
Washington (AFP) - Consumer activists cheered Tuesday, but some comfort food fans booed, after Kraft Foods Group said it will stop using artificial coloring in its iconic Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product.
From
January next year, two kinds of yellow dye will no longer be added to the
packaged dry pasta and processed cheese mix that is famous for its gooey
yellow-orange look.
Instead,
natural ingredients like paprika, annatto and turmeric will be used, said Kraft
in a statement Monday that promised no change in how Mac and Cheese actually
tastes.
"These
recipe changes are the latest steps in the Kraft Mac and Cheese journey to
delight consumers with on-trend updates to meet consumers' changing lifestyles
and needs," it said.
Cheap and
easy to make, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese -- known in Canada as Kraft Dinner --
has been part of the North American family diet since its introduction in 1937
amid the Great Depression.
Campaigners
have long pressed Kraft to stop adding artificial coloring, amid fears of a
link with hyperactivity in children.
"This
is a crucial first step on removing an unnecessary but potentially harmful
additive from the food supply," said North Carolina food blogger Vani Hari
in an email to AFP.
Hari, who
writes the Food Babe blog, was behind an online petition that drew more than
365,000 signatures urging Kraft to stop using fake coloring.
"Kraft's
Macaroni and Cheese isn't a health food," added the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, another critic of artificial coloring.
"But
replacing its Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 with natural colorings is a step in the
right direction," it said on its website.
On social
media, however, diehard Mac and Cheese fans cried foul.
"Why
would you want to change a great product like your Mac and Cheese to please
some health nuts and ruin it for your loyal customers?" wrote one outraged
American mother on Kraft's Facebook recipes page.
"Please
don't change my Kraft Dinner! I am 52 years old and it's been the same great
taste since my childhood!" added a Canadian consumer, also on Facebook.
Last month,
Kraft and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said they would end a
controversial children's nutrition awareness initiative for a processed cheese
product.
The food
giant said it will remove the academy's "Kids Eat Right" logo from
Kraft Singles, individually wrapped slices of a processed cheese product, after
it was criticized as an endorsement of Kraft products.
The
venture, announced by the academy earlier in March, was aimed at promoting
better nutrition for youngsters.
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