When I boarded the plane in North Carolina to go to Chicago just a few days ago to deliver over 270,000 petitions to Kraft headquarters, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
Over the course of this week, several media outlets have interviewed me before, during and after my visit to Kraft where they reported bits and pieces of what happened; however, they didn’t share the whole inside story and that is why I want you to know everything that happened that day including everything that led up to the behind-closed-doors conversation I had with Kraft.
No April Fool’s Joke
On Monday, which happened to be April Fool’s Day, I woke up at 5am to a very chilly morning in Chicago to get ready for a live TV interview on Fox News Chicago. I spent the night before thinking about what I was going to say and preparing for questions. There was one thing I wanted to get across in the interview – I wanted to ask Kraft on live TV, why they have refused to meet with me (after repeated attempts to reach out to them) and why they haven’t listened to over 270,000 thousand consumers. Luckily during the interview, I was able to ask those questions. My favorite line was telling Kraft “I’m not the boogie man.” To my surprise, Fox invited their medical correspondent on the show with me, who ended up confirming the research that there is a correlation between hyperactivity and the consumption of food dyes. This doctor even went on on live TV again in the afternoon that day, to confirm these findings in the evening broadcast. Many people at the station told me they appreciated my efforts to raise awareness about food safety. So of course, I took a moment and tweeted that.
I headed back to my hotel, where I was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune. The reporter grilled me – it was a lively debate and the article ended up having one of the best titles of day “Kraft served in mac ‘n’ cheese fight.”
Taste Test On The Streets of Chicago
To prove that the UK version of Kraft Mac & Cheese made with natural dyes was just as yellow and tasty as the US version, I held a taste test on the Chicago streets in front of the Jewel Osco Market on State Street. Even though Dr. Oz confirmed they virtually look and taste the same on his show, just as I did initially when I launched the petition, I felt like this exercise would be important to get the general public aware of the issue in Kraft’s own backyard.
We stayed at a hotel that had a kitchen, which I loved for personal reasons for preparing and eating healthy food, but the real reason we did this was to have the ability to make the UK version and store it in thermoses to keep it hot for the taste testing.
When I got to the market with all the samples, I was swarmed by the media to the point of total distraction from the original intent. Reporters wanted to interview me at the same time I was trying to approach the public to participate in the taste test. I tried to talk to as many people as I could with a tray of Mac & Cheese in the freezing cold weather. My fingers went completely numb even with gloves on! I was really surprised at how many people stopped to talk to me, considering the conditions. The comments and reactions were priceless – almost everyone said the UK version tasted great, they loved the color and couldn’t tell a difference, especially the kids. It was gratifying to know so many people, once they understood the issue, said they would choose the Mac & Cheese product without dyes too.
Delivering The Petitions
After the taste testing, I headed to Northfield, IL, where Kraft headquarters is located, to deliver the petitions. There was a Whole Foods right across the street, which was really convenient! We stopped there to fuel up, I bought some tea, a green juice and a cookie (full disclosure!).
When it was time, we headed to the parking lot across the street from the Kraft Headquarters and parked at the CVS. I was greeted by some amazing readers of this blog and supporters of the campaign. These new friends I made are truly incredible warriors and voices, I was touched by their commitment, positive energy and support.
We walked the boxes of 270,000 signatures across the street to the corner of the security entrance (technically on Kraft’s property) and set up on the side walk to give a speech on why I was there. Pulin Modi from change.org who has been with us every step of the way introduced me…You can read the entire transcript of the speech here.
After delivering this speech, we picked up the boxes and headed to the front gate. Immediately the security guard came out from the booth and gave me a clipboard to sign my name. She said, pointing at me, “you are the only one allowed in” and asked us to put the boxes down so they could be collected.
I didn’t quite understand the impact of what was happening at the moment – I kinda froze and then I looked around, screamed “YES!”, gave a hug to the team at change.org who have been with me from the start of this campaign and to the supporters who came out that day. I looked up at the sky and thanked God. I began to feel the magnitude of the over 270,000 voices I was representing. The letters from all the people and children harmed by these dyes went through my head. Tears of joy ran down my face – mascara went everywhere.
Before leaving with the security guard to be escorted to the front, I turned to the media cameras and told them “This is a monumental moment, people have been trying to get artificial food dye out of food for decades.” And thanked everyone who called that day. ABC in Chicago captured the moment here.
Then I proceeded to walk through the gate, escorted by security, where I was told I could take no pictures. I called two people on my walk in, Lisa Leake who started this petition with me and my husband. I also texted my Mom and told her “Kraft is letting me in”, she immediately wrote back “stay calm love.”
The Power of Your Voice – The Food Babe Army
Before this moment, I didn’t have a scheduled meeting with Kraft, in fact, Kraft had refused to meet with me and ignored our requests to have a conversation about the petition for the entire last month. A few hours before heading to the headquarters, I posted a message on Facebook asking fans to call the headquarters on my behalf to ask Kraft to meet with me. I wasn’t the only one who did this, several other food advocates (and personal friends) shared this message with their fans too – The Cornucopia Institute, CEO of Nutiva – John Roulac, GMO Inside, Leah from Mamavation, Cheri from Label GMOs Hollywood, CSPI, Ann Marie from Cheese Slave, Max from Livingmaxwell, Lisa from 100 Days of Real Food, and countless other fans. I didn’t know at the time, but this tactic ended up being one of the most powerful social media events I have ever witnessed. Reading the comments on facebook was so inspiring, people were put on hold for over 10 mins and did not give up. Kraft eventually went from ignoring my emails and voicemails to finally deciding to meet. I believe the persistence and calls of supporters that day is what led Kraft to finally agree to sit down with me.
Here was the graphic posted and shared all over facebook that day:
The Meeting: Behind Closed Doors with Kraft
Once in the building, I was introduced to Lynne Galia and Basil Maglaris from Corporate Affairs (not the CEO Tony Vernon or Head of Mac & Cheese Noelle O’Mara like I had requested) and we went to go find a conference room. Obviously they had not reserved a room for my visit so there was a bit of confusion trying to get a space to sit down and talk.
I asked for their cards, but they both didn’t have one on them (I wonder if it’s because they didn’t want me to have their phone numbers?)
I asked them if I could conference in Lisa, and they obliged. But first, they made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to tape record the meeting in any capacity and Lynne showed me her phone when she turned it off.
As soon as we began talking, they immediately reiterated their position in the previous letter they posted on their website and asked us if we had anything new to share with them. We asked why haven’t they listened to over 270,000 people demanding the removal of artificial dyes? And they said “we are listening and have 14 different options that do not have dyes.”
We explained our position about those 14 options.
- There are over 30 Kraft Mac & Cheese products that have artificial dyes, and the average consumer cannot tell the difference between the similar looking blue boxes to avoid dye. We asked if Kraft would consider a label change to be more clear but Lynne refused to entertain this idea.
- Kraft’s dye free options are not available at every grocery store, we cited examples including reader feedback from calls to customer service, reader pictures of various grocery store shelves, and my own experience earlier that day at Jewel Osco market in Chicago to prove our point. We explained there is not a version without dye in every grocery store side by side with the regular version. Lynn said in response that consumers have to read the ingredient label, then call the customer service hotline to find the products without dyes and can buy different versions on Amazon.com – I stated that is an unrealistic expectation to ask of most consumers, and how would they even know about the dye free option, if they have never even seen it in their stores or unaware of the health issues associated with dyes?
- The Kraft Mac & Cheese that is available in kid’s menus across the nation at various chain restaurants like Applebees, IHOP, and Bob Evans do not give a choice, all of those children who order off these menus receive Kraft with artificial dye.
- The majority of the 14 options (all but 1) are more expensive – sometimes twice the price of the original blue box. While the UK version is just 10 cents more than the regular blue box version – a reasonable difference consumers could afford.
- Many varieties of the homestyle versions of Mac & Cheese are totally different and do not compare to the original blue box Mac & Cheese. (For example, they have other additives like partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fat), corn syrup and GMOs.) How is avoiding artificial dyes and eating other additives really a choice?
- Kraft’s dye free options are not the ones marketed toward children with cartoon characters and other sayings – Kraft currently offers no dye free options to children. I asked Lynne and Basil if they would consider offering a version of Kraft without dyes to kids, they declined to answer.
- Two of the options Kraft lists are dye free actually do have dyes if you buy the microwave version. Lynne claimed that only the “bag” version is dye free. We explained this was very confusing to the average consumer and unfair to the person who chooses to microwave their food vs. cook it over the stove. It also makes their “letter to fans” inaccurate. Basil wrote a note about this on his piece of paper.
Lynne also reiterated that they are complying with the FDA laws and look to “scientists and regulators” when formulating their products. Which prompted me to ask “Why did Kraft spend over 10 million dollars during the last 5 years lobbying the FDA? And why does Europe require a warning label for these dyes?”
She didn’t answer the questions and looked visibly uncomfortable when I asked them.
Lynne said Kraft is listening to their customers who want to keep Mac & Cheese just the way it is. We asked her how Kraft defined the word “listening,” since there were over 270,000 people requesting the removal. We wanted to know who the people were that want artificial dyes in their food? She couldn’t answer that question – so we asked “How do you define “listening” – and she explained that the people who are still buying the product (i.e. the people who don’t know about this issue yet) are the ones they are listening to – in other words, we explained – you are listening to your sales of Mac & Cheese, the bottom line, correct? And she nodded.
I realized the tone of the meeting from the get go, wasn’t very positive, but I stayed on message and asked pointed questions, sometimes asking the same question two and three times to see if we could get answer…
One of the questions I asked repeatedly was this:
Why did you reformulate Mac & Cheese without artificial food dyes overseas but not here? And why did Kraft do it for almost the entire line of products including, Lunchables, Trident, Halls, Pillsbury, and Ritz Cheese Crackers? Artificial food dyes are still allowed in Europe – but you reformulated them there? Why?
I just wanted to hear the answer as I understood it. We know Kraft did it to avoid the warning label that is required in Europe when a product uses artificial dyes and wanted them to be honest and admit this but neither of Kraft’s representatives wanted to answer the question truthfully and said “I don’t know” each time we asked those questions. At one point I asked to speak to the person in charge of the UK version of Mac & Cheese, and Lynn said that was her territory, but she didn’t know the answer to our questions, so I asked – who does know the answers? Can we talk to them? She refused my request.
Lynne, exhausted from having to answer “I don’t know” several times during the meeting, said she “might” consider following up on that question.
Hearing, that we weren’t going to get the action from Kraft we wanted, I asked if we could set up a follow up meeting in 2 weeks to get answers to our questions, and see if we could stay in touch regarding this issue and whether any progress is being made at Kraft towards removing artificial dyes. Basil said “2 weeks is arbitrary” and Lynne, added “In 2 weeks -our position will be the same.”
We asked Lynne and Basil if they fed their kids Mac & Cheese and what versions they choose. Both of them answered several different versions including the ones with dyes, and Basil mentioning his family likes adding extra cheddar cheese (likely Kraft brand) to the boxed versions.
Towards the end of the meeting, I asked if Kraft was planning to eliminate the dyes anytime in the future, and if it was on their radar (considering they said in June 2012 they were looking into replacing artificial dyes with more natural options.) If Kraft was not ready to talk about it, we offered to back off. I even proposed to keep any of their plans to remove the dye private until they were ready and ignore media who was waiting outside. We handed them a carrot, but they didn’t bite. Instead, Lynne offered that she couldn’t “predict the future” and ultimately left the meeting saying she believes “Kraft is making the right choice” and “we have to agree to disagree.”
At the end of the meeting – Lynne claimed that she was taking our concerns and unanswered questions to other colleagues but I noticed she didn’t take any notes during our meeting. Her notepad was left entirely blank, while I had taken over 3 pages of notes.
After the meeting, I was walked to the main gate by security, and to my surprise, the boxes of petitions were still there. I found it comical that they left them out there for so long considering all the employees coming in and out of the building.
The supporters who came out that day waited over an hour for me to return from the meeting – it was an incredible feeling having them greet me at the end of the meeting. A video from Progressive Illinois captured what I said and shared at that moment here.
Result: Kraft’s Brand Damaged, Boycotts Ensue
Kraft made a very calculated move to sit down with me. That was one thing they did right to avoid further criticism. Could you imagine the backlash from the media if they didn’t accept the 270,000 petitions we delivered to their front door?
However, as you can see from the results of the meeting, Kraft continues to be in denial. One of my mentors stated that getting inside Kraft’s headquarters is indicative of the food industry berlin wall falling one pebble at a time…The potential brand damage that Kraft could suffer from not listening to concerned customers is tremendous – just use google news to google kraft mac & cheese and you can see what I’m talking about. I truly believe down the road, Kraft will make this change. We’ve seen this denial over and over again, companies say no a few times, before they say yes – especially when their decisions start to hurt their bottom line.
Readers, fans and supporters have already started to vote with their dollars and have stopped buying not only Kraft Mac & Cheese, but all of Kraft’s Products. If you’ve been following me for sometime, you know this – I personally haven’t bought anything from Kraft (except the Mac & Cheese I had to for this campaign) since they gave 2 million dollars fighting against our right to know and labeling of genetically engineered foods.
Trust me when I say this is not over and we have a lot of creative ideas planned to keep this pressure on and want you all to be even more involved!
Please make sure you sign up for my email list to stay up to date and follow me on facebook and twitter. Keep sharing this petition. And most importantly, keep talking to your friends and family about why they should not be consuming these artificial, petroleum-based dyes.
We can do this together – I know it.
Thank you!
Food Babe
Easy enough to boycott their products … we started eating unprocessed foods in January – across the board. So, that shouldn’t be an issue. Every crappy product Kraft and its subsidiaries make comes in store brands as well – so really, even if you choose to eat boxed, you can shop store brands and save some money (and I’ve found many of the store brands to have far fewer additives, surprised the heck out of me!)
On a side note Vani – the reason people in Chicago would stop and talk to you at your tasting on that unseasonable day, is because to us, it is spring … 40 degrees feels like a heatwave after our long winter (and I’m from Minnesota, we don’t have those cold Lake Michigan winds like Chicago does – I bet they were acting like it was summertime!)
Hi Vani–How can Kraft say this crap: http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/food-safety-quality/index.aspx I would like to boycott them completely, but then I discovered that they package Planter’s nuts! What about some products that are manufactured for other corporations such as CVS or Safeway, for instance?
This isn’t the only large food corporation that adds artificial colors and preservatives that are downright toxic!
This reminds me of that movie , “A Few Good Men”, when Jack Nicholson says, “you can handle the truth!” I’m afraid that these people are heartless!
Thanks for all your efforts to date regarding this issue! Keep up the good fight! I’m still frustrated with the fact that the GMO labelling didn’t get passed but if we all work together, we can speak with our united voices (and wallets)!
We got this! There is a hell of a lot more of us than them!!!
Thanks for your hard work…I don’t buy this stuff but my grandchildren get fed it all the time…hate it
wow you are a hero to me, for taking the time to do this work, and let the public know what is really in their “food”. i wonder how many signatures on the Kraft petition would you need to really make them stand up and take notice. how can you get a massive amount of Kraft mac and cheese eaters to boycott it , so they really get the message. for now here is a mac n cheese recipe with no artificial ingredients- no cooking needed that i am going to try this weekend: http://www.rawfoodia.com/raw-mac-and-cheese.html
I am so proud of your work. I only found your site recently, but really appreciate all that you are doing. I have been a vegetarian for a couple of years and transitioning to an all organic diet. Since the beginning of the year, the only item I have bought that is not organic is Cadbury chocolate from the UK that I’ve had to order via Amazon. When Kraft bought Cadbury UK, there was tension because Hershey has the rights to the Cadbury name in the US. Hershey makes the Cadbury available in US stores and it does not taste the same as the UK Cadbury (the ingredients, like with most US vs UK foods show the UK version is far superior). Hershey has prevented UK Cadbury from being sold at Cost Plus World Market and other stores where it was available in the US. I have a very limited supply of my beloved Cadbury chocolates from the UK, but they will be easier to give up now that I know I am giving them up for the greater good. RIP to my last non-organic food item.
Iapplaude you for the exaustive work you are doing with regarde to processed food in packages I pretty much gave up eating most of the garbage out there forty years ago. .I have reached close to eighty years and feel great all the time. with loads of energy and no sick time. Sad to say I have lost quite a few good friends who simply did not pay any real attention to what they put into their bodies.Perhaps the work you are doing with regardes to healthy food, will help our grandchildren. Sincere Thanks
WOW! No Kraft products for me! Targeting children with food-dyes? And refusing to change their product? Obviously they don’t have customers in mind. Why would I want to purchase goods from a company like that?
Keep up the great work!!!! A huge thank you for putting yourself out there. Would love to meet you at some point. I live in Charlotte, know Lisa…am passionate about change.
Vani, thanks so much for your hard work and perseverance! We are already boycotting Kraft. Just a thought: perhaps instead of fighting capitalism, we should all take part. In other words, what if everyone who is able to bought a share of Kraft? As partial owners, maybe they’d take our message more seriously. Most of the shares are owned by institutions, but as individuals (activist investors) we might be able to make change. It’s voting with our dollars in a different sense.
Awesome job! Your awareness has made me reevaluate what I buy for my family. I think a big problem is couponers. They get coupons and buy up on all the sales of these processed foods because its “a good deal”.
Awesome job! I recently signed up to your site. I have changed to an all organic diet for almost 6 months now and feel the great difference. We need a lot of people like you to provide a healthy environment to our kids.
Kraft also owns the organic brand Back to Nature. I just happened to notice that one wasn’t on the nifty little graphic.
Love what you are doing…I’m good with not buying any of Krafts products…There are some great alternatives out there.
I simply refused to buy Kraft until they go dye and other junk free. I buy Annies Organics (another blue box). I plan to continue for the forseeable Future when we need a fast fix lunch. My 13 yr son makes an awesome from scratch mac and cheese that we eat most often.
Kudos to you Food Babe for your hard work and determination! All options for “Krap” Foods and their products are off my table from now on. Shame on them for turning their backs on educated consumers.
Vani, you are so brave! Thank you for taking on this petition and the meeting with Kraft. I hope they get the message. And consider their products boycotted here!
I am curious though- they produce store brand mac and cheese and other things too don’t they? Gotta look at labels and just not choose anything with all that petroleum!!
Thank you for your hard work!
I guess I’m already boycotting their products, however unintentional. It’s all processed crap, and when I do need actual processed crap, I go with the cheap house brands–but most of my shopping is at TJ’s.
But our whole family does eat these items, though I don’t know exactly when or how often. But I would never ever tell my mom (or, truly, anyone who served me food) that their meal was not good enough for me. But I serve only good whole food.
I am the crazy lady who gave out whole organic apples as a soccer snack. One kid (age about 7-8) had never.eaten.an.actual.apple. before. Shocked at how good it was, he asked for another. I thought his mom was going to die of embarrassment. I said nothing other than “of course!”, I just happily gave him another apple 🙂
Great story about the apples Dree! Glad you had success. I’m the crazy lady who gave out water bottles after a baseball game (instead of gatorade) and one kid took it from me, took the lid off and poured it out right in front of me! Really.
I just realized Cheetos has artificial colors too. Yellow! YUK
Just learned today that the “Back to Nature” brand of mac and cheese is also Kraft. Last year Kraft sold their majority stake in the company, but it is still a Kraft subsidiary. So even though we enjoyed their mac and cheese tonight, it’s on the banned list for us too. Which is too bad because this subsidiary seemed to do a pretty good job of making a very delicious mac and cheese that my son (who is very picky) loved and was free of artificial flavors, preservatives and colors.
I think Kraft has a smug attitude about this because they know that even if consumers switch to another brand, or a store brand, there is probably a good chance that they have a stake in those brands in some way. I was really disappointed to find Back to Nature at our co-op yesterday and in one day, learn that I have to boycott that as well. But my resolve hasn’t been shaken. Kraft products won’t enter my home. I’m done.
So you decided not to use the Back to Nature brand of macaroni and cheese — NOT because of any bad ingredients it contains, but because the company that makes it sells OTHER products with ingredients you don’t like?
Thank you for all of the hard work you and Lisa have done! This isn’t over… keep educating and teaching others about the dangers in our food! We are backing you 100%!
Thank you for doing this!! We are behind you 100%. No more Kraft allowed in our house! 🙂 I started buying Annie’s Homegrown Mac & Cheese a few weeks ago and the ingredient list is 1/3 of the list of Kraft and I feel so much better feeding it to my son. Found it for $1.59 at Target, not even that much more than Kraft!
Great work Vani Food Babe!
Even though i have not consumed a Kraft product for over 25 years, i commend your work in denouncing irresponsible actions and going after a mega industry/corporation to promote and instigate change! We support your great efforts – and need more like you who have persistance and willpower- thank you!
Yup. They’ve lost me as a customer. Totally. Thank you for the list of products! I’m now no longer going to purchase any of those items.
Keep the pressure on! Fantastic job! I know it can be draining when you are David fighting Goliath, but just remember who won that one! Nothing Kraft will cross my threshold until they do what is right!
we already don’t buy kraft – they contract with a company that uses aborted fetal kidneys in their flavor testing process. EW!
Your work should be commended. Thank you for your efforts. I only have Kraft on hand when my kids have friends over that will only eat that type of mac and cheese. My kids eat organic products. With so many choices these days….it’s ridiculous that anyone would choose a product of this low quality.
Thank you for the tremendous amount of energy and time you’ve put in to this worthy cause. Keep fighting!! We appreciate your efforts.
You go girl! Thank you for the thorough write-up of your meeting with Kraft. And thank you for all your time, effort and tears on behalf of the health of our children!
Why stop at attacking one company? Take this fight to the FDA. That is where the real problem is and where real change can be made. Kraft is only one of hundreds of companies that use these dyes. The only way to fix this problem is for the FDA to ban these dyes or make companies add a warning label.
Thanks for the picture of Kraft product logos. I already made a commitment to vote with my dollars on Kraft mac n cheese, and will extend that to all their products! I’m pinning on one of my Pinterest boards and FB posting to help spread the word.
Thanks Vani! Thank you! We support you and appreciate your efforts on everyone’s behalf for honesty and health.
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!
Great job confronting Kraft! I recently decided to boycott them for another reason entirely… I had been buying Bullseye barbeque sauce because it was the only corn syrup-free option offered by my local grocer. *Was* being the operative term. I randomly checked the label on a new bottle and found that Kraft had reformulated it without warning; it now contains corn syrup. At the time, the Bullseye/Kraft website still claimed Bullseye to be corn syrup-free, but the new site has no nutritional information available at all. I really feel like Kraft played a dirty trick on me (and all consumers) by changing their recipe without any notice. I have a friend who buys this sauce because her children have an allergy to corn… What if *she* hadn’t checked the label? I also don’t appreciate being played for a fool and asked to pay a premium price for a product that no longer contains premium ingredients. They lost my business then, and their reaction to the question of food dyes just reinforces my poor opinion of their integrity.
Thanks also to the commenters who pointed out that Back to Nature is owned by Kraft. I had forgotten.
Good to know! I buy (bought) Bull’s Eye for the same reason. Will have to check. I also noticed that on their Oscar Mayer nitrate free products, they started adding ‘corn sugar’ when a few months ago it was nothing but celery something as a preservative. I really didn’t think about OM being Kraft either.
Here’s the thing: Kraft and the drug companies are in bed together. If there are fewer dyes in the food, there will be fewer diognoses of hyperactivity disorders, and fewer prescriptions written for the drugs that control that hyperactivity. It’s disgusting. BUT. I think what you’re doing is AMAZING. And thank you for being that person who stands up for all of us who want healthier food! They’ll have to listen eventually!
Thank you for being our voice!! If it weren’t for you I’d never know about this issue! Truly appreciated!!
This whole thing has been super interesting to follow! I’m insulted that it was important enough for them to make the change for the UK but not for their own Country? Keep up the good work! We have started making the change to whole foods so there are literally only a couple of their brands we still like to purchase but I will work on phasing them out as well.
Bless you a thousand times. I have become more aware of food safety and better nutrition for my family and I’m spreading the news about Kraft and their practices. They listen to their bottom line? Yeah, I hope they listen when that bottom line becomes less and less as more people boycott their unhealthy products!
Thank you Vani! You’re awesome! and that was a great idea to get out there for that taste test! I bet anywhere you go, people would want to try it. You could do a taste test tour around the country, in a Mac n cheese (UK version) food truck. that would get so much publicity! Thanks again for all the hard work!
We need to pick a week or a month and boycott all Kraft products. If we hit them in their bottom line they may rethink their stance. Imagine if no one bought any Kraft products for the month of JUNE.
Way to go! I was smiling and laughing through reading your post that you were able to accomplish so much.
It’s clear that what matters to Kraft is the bottom line, as you brought up. It costs more money to put real food in their products, and artificial dyes are cheaper. They don’t want to change their product because it will cost them. It’s why every other big food manufacturer puts crap ingredients in their products. And Kraft and the other companies probably won’t change until the FDA twists their arms and makes them. That’s why I keep saying the change has to start at the FDA.
I am amazed at your effort. Kudos!! While I don’t consider our family wealthy or rich, I will not buy these boxed processed chemical low cost concoctions whether they remove all the bad stuff or not. Our country is suffering from a lack of fuel. Edible fuel that feeds humans. Somewhere long ago when we got lazy and greedy we stopped caring what went into our bodies and now try to pass healthcare bills and find grant money to fund science experiments to fight diseases that are directly related to our food. FDA? Yeah, right. Incompetent.
I’d love to see equal pressure on the FDA. Ultimately, if OUR GOVERNMENT allows it, then people (who are uneducated to the issues) will think it’s “okay” to purchase.
Great efforts so far! Now you need to target the FDA! Don’t worry about the Kraft people you met. I worked as a product manager in a large corporation a while ago, and it is unbelievably rare for someone in that role to meet with actual customers. They don’t know how to relate to real people sometimes! Sad but true. A healthy bottom line is what keeps them in their jobs, not healthy products. It says something for this campaign that her superiors made her meet with you! The main issue I see now is that if they do change the ingredients for this product, then they are in effect admitting food dyes in all their other products are bad. The cost to change ALL of those products would be prohibitive unless they truly thought they’d sell more. I think a much broader campaign raising awareness in the general public and aiming for regulatory change is the only way things will change. Also, who is Kraft’s main competitor for Mac and cheese? This could be their big moment to change ingredients and heavily advertise their dye-free, healthier product ( anyone who watched the Mad Men smoking episode will know where I’m coming from!).
Thank you! Thank you for all of your time, hard work and dedication. Thank you for looking out for all of us and sticking up for those of us that aren’t as well informed. I started on this whole journey because I wanted my daughter to eat healthier food, because while I have a choice about what I eat, she does not. At three years old she is beholden to my choices and it’s my job as her parent to be responsible and feed her healthy food. When I started trying to feed her healthy food, I focused on getting her hooked on fruits and vegetables. I could never have imagined what a tangled web of deceit our food supply has become. I had no clue about GMO’s or the dangers of chemical additives or how filled with land mines a typical grocery store can be. The more I learned, the more I realized I needed to rely on others like you to help clean up this mess and untangle the lies that are being fed to our country and keep parents like me informed about all the hidden dangers in everything we eat. Thank you for helping all parents feed our children better. Go Food Babe, GO!
Keep up the good work! I have one question. Has anyone actually tested the UK Kraft Mac & Cheese to see if it is, indeed, dye free? Just perhaps, they are pulling the wool over their eyes. Seems like they are protesting too much! Just a thought…
Thank you for all the time you have put in to this! I have taken note of the brands above and I will stop purchasing these brands until they can remove the dyes. Unbelievable that a company the size of Kraft could not/would not remove these from their products when it’s so easy. I would respect them so much more if they would take the lead on this and remove the dyes.
Vani~
Thanks so much for your efforts and hard work! Your hard work has paid off- look you had an interview in there how awesome is that?
I can count with my hand the times I’ve had Kraft products, let alone mac N cheese. My toddler has never touched any of Krats products because there is nothing real or natural (Back to Nature) like many pointed out is owned by them.
Keep up the good work; you have our full support. We vote with our dollar and voice!
I’m totally on board with this campaign. I will be speaking with my dollars. I will be boycotting Kraft in every way that I possibly can. This is not easy for me as I’m on a very tight budget but my children’s health is far too important to me.
Also, your links in the post (Twitter & Facebook) both lead to Facebook.