The thousands of letters I have received from parents whose children have benefited from the removal of artificial food dyes are ringing in my ear this morning. We finally did it.
Kraft Dumps Artificial Food Dye After Massive Petition
Kraft is removing all artificial food dye from every kind of their mac & cheese by 2016. Millions of families across the United States and Canada will finally get the same safer versions that have been available in Europe for years. The double standard is finally ending for one iconic product and hopefully several more. A million boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese are sold everyday – that’s a lot of artificial food dye finally being eliminated from the North American food supply. We have a lot more work to do in this area but we are making some serious progress.
Please consider removing this additive from your diet because artificial dyes…
- Are man-made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum (a crude oil product, which also happens to be used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar).
- Require a warning label in other countries outside the US that states “May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
- Have been banned in countries like Norway and Austria (and are being phased out in the UK).
- Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 can be contaminated with known carcinogens (a.k.a. an agent directly involved in causing cancer).
- Cause an increase in hyperactivity in children.
- Have a negative impact on children’s ability to learn.
- Have been linked to long-term health problems such as asthma, skin rashes, and migraines.
- Add absolutely no nutritional value to the foods we are eating and are used solely for aesthetic purposes.
- Are being consumed at an alarming rate! The new Purdue University study shows the extreme amounts of dyes being used in everyday foods here in the U.S now vs. when they were approved for use. They believe that with a combination of foods, kids “could easily consume 100 mg of dyes in a day”, which is well over the amount shown to cause reactions.
My heart goes out to everyone who is fighting for a safer food system, especially every one of you that signed this petition (all 365,000+ of you!), and of course the #FoodBabeArmy who has been actively working for this change for 2 years!
This is a revolution, consumers voices are finally being heard!
Xo,
Vani
Official Press Release:
KRAFT DROPS ARTIFICIAL DYES IN ALL MAC & CHEESE PRODUCTS AFTER PETITION DRIVE BY FOOD ACTIVIST VANI HARI
- Kraft Foods pledges to phase out artificial yellow dyes and synthetic preservatives from Mac & Cheese after 365,000 people back food blogger Vani Hari’s Change.org campaign and The Food Babe Way book hits #1.
CHARLOTTE, NC – More than 365,0000 health advocates, consumers, and concerned families are celebrating the success of a popular petition led by activist and New York Times Best Selling Author Vani Hari. Faced with intense public scrutiny, Kraft Foods has just announced plans to remove artificial yellow dyes from all Macaroni & Cheese products by 2016.
Vani Hari, petition author and founder of FoodBabe.com, celebrated Kraft’s announcement. “This is a revolution – consumers voices are finally being heard.”
“This is a crucial first step on removing an unnecessary but potentially harmful additive from the food supply, millions of children could be affected by these artificial food dyes,” said Hari. In Europe, artificial food dyes require a warning that states; “May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” This is required because of scientific studies conducted by European Safety Officials.
The Center for Science in The Public Interest has petitioned the FDA to ban these artificial food dyes because risks include hyperactivity in children, cancer (in animals studies) and allergic reactions. The British government and European Union have taken actions that are virtually ending the use of dyes throughout Europe.
“Consumers have been telling us, and parents in particular, that they want to feel good about the foods that they eat and that they serve their families,” Triona Schmelter, Kraft’s vice president of marketing for meals, told the Chicago Tribune.
Kraft’s announcement comes as many companies are removing artificial food dyes, including Hershey’s and Nestle.
“To be part of such a monumental turning point in the removal of artificial food dyes from the food system and to help raise up the voices of over 365,000 people is an incredible honor,”
“I hope Kraft’s decision to remove these artificial food dyes from Mac & Cheese continues throughout their entire product line including JELLO, Kool Aid and across the industry,” commented Ms. Hari.
“This is a real turning point for the food system – I thank the hundreds of thousands who joined the petition and the researchers and activists who have been pushing for this across the world for many years.”
The food industry, of course, is not too happy about this kind of activism. After Ms. Hari’s book The Food Babe Way hit best selling status (which included several chapters on the risks associated with consuming food industry additives and the introduction dedicated to her activism at Kraft), they have started a campaign to attempt to discredit Ms. Hari and her followers. Some recent articles about her have failed to report that many other consumer, environmental and health groups, plus eminent scientists and doctors, are also targeting these the same synthetic ingredients. These stories also fail to report that these same substances have been tightly regulated or banned in Europe and other nations based on science.
Congratulations! We need to get all of these extra, nonessential, and unhealthy additives out of all food products. How about doing the same with carrageenan?
I am waiting the same, carrageenan is Still in organic stuff for kids. That’s pretty sad.
I agree with you, Monica. The number of products which contain carrageenan is overwhelming!!! It is in toothpaste – even children’s toothpaste, it’s in ice cream, shampoo, cereals, mostly all processed foods – it is every where!!! I can not believe what is allowed to go into our foods and then the companies want to not label them. GMO’s, aluminum, carrageenan, etc, and they know it is not good for us to eat??? I just wonder if these people who poison us are eating the same foods?? I think I know that answer!! Monica – I wonder if there is a difference between organic items and USDA Organic?? I do my best to find foods that have the Non-GMO label and USDA Organic, if nothing else mind over matter helps me, lol!
This is a major victory and and in a chain of many that are needed. We, indeed, need to protect our children.
To answer Cindy’s question, most organic certification groups have stricter standards then USDA organic. That being said, I’m usually happy to find any food with an organic certification of any kind, in my local food stores, here at the bottom of Appalachia. However, this year even my local Walmart has been carrying some. Times appear to be changing for the better.
In addition, for the benefit of those readers who wish to criticize my use of the term Dr., I have two doctoral degrees, a PhD in the physical sciences and a DC in chiropractic. I’m also retired, and my website is not up to date, but it will be when I find the time.
Ron,
That’s good news, but actually…
why destroy your health with processed foods?
NO need to eat stuff that went through a machine and came out of a bottle or box.
How difficult is it to bring almonds, cherry tomatoes, avocado, walnuts, a piece of fruit, boiled egg, ..? Super easy and..way CHEAPER & HEALTHIER than boxed & processed stuff! Don’t you think so?
If you really struggle to get started planning out all the details (shopping, eating what and when) then I like to point you to my (personal) favorite step-by-step Paleo at: timreviews.com/paleo-recipe (I hope he doesn’t mind)
Again – food is like medicine. You don’t want to feed your body with food that came form machines and that contains masses of sugar and chemicals. Don’t you?
Jenni
terry, for every one of us that have had the AHA moment, there are 1000s who put complete trust in what is on the shelves and advertised on tv. We advocate for them and the greater good in an attempt to lessen the rising tide of poor health and malnutrition in our country. It matters to all of us!
Hi Jenni, I have to agree with you. I personally think all this effort to get Kraft to take out the dyes should have been spent educating families about eating fresh food and supporting local farmers for a truly sustainable food system. Dyes or not, GMOs or not, organic or not, food in a box is devoid of nutrients and a product like mac ‘n cheese will cause insulin spikes and cravings for more junk. I’m sure Vani still won’t eat the new product. Like you said, even busy parents can give kids fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, etc… If you are a busy working parent, cook on Sundays and freeze food for the week. Packaged food also creates terrible waste for the environment. Do we really want our future generation of kids to deal with our non-GMO, organic food packaging that hasn’t broken down? Make the kids get their get their own junk by walking to the store and using their own allowance. But first, teach them about the importance of nutrition and food packaging waste.
Congratulations Vani and thank you!!
I’m jumping up with joy……….. WHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Thank you so much for all that you do to help all of us eat better.
And I shared this page in FB.
Glad so many unnecessary additives have been tackled by Vani and her team!
After a really disappointing array of meals and snacks on a major US airline today, I am hoping you will go after the airline industry next, Vani!
I could not believe how many additives were on the labels of the mostly pre-packaged food items we were served on this particular airline. I asked if they had real milk or cream for their coffee and tea and was told “No.” I was handed their artificial GMO soybean oil based coffee whitener in wasteful plastic single-serve containers. I drank my coffee black needless to say. Breakfast consisted of preservative-laden overly sweet yogurt, a white processed bagel and more preservative-laden cream cheese. The salad dressing and pre-packaged brownie that came with dinner were also highly loaded with artificial ingredients. The main meal was over-microwaved in its plastic container such that the contents were mushy and browned as they clung, partially burnt to the plastic packaging material. Not a healthy option for anyone, let alone palatable! Their flight attendants are eating this kind of food on a regular basis-not a great statement about how they view/handle their own employee’s health/nutrition!
Our connecting flight on KLM was such a contrast with mostly fresh foods in their natural state and minimal to no additives! Milk or cream poured from cartons was also the norm. Why does the US airline industry fall so short of providing healthier options to their clients?
I travel regularly worldwide with our family members but only occasionally on US airlines. It is a real eye-opener for me to compare and contrast the dining experiences on US airlines as compared to all other airlines globally that we have personally experienced, including many “Third World” countries, and to see how short the US airlines typically fall in this regard. Time for change!
Hospitals! We can’t let them off the hook. They serve name brand yogurt, GMO meat, white wheat! And these people are sick, they need our healthy food more than anyone. We need to go after the hospitals. It might be tough though because they are in the back pocket of Big Pharma!
I completely agree with you. My young niece was in Texas Children’s Hospital in March, the food that they served to her was disgusting. They served her a bunch of sugar, GMO filled crap. I couldn’t believe that a hospital of that caliber was serving food of that quality to their young patients. 🙁
Yes, yes, yes!!! It’s making the news on Global TV in Calgary!!, what a victory! Congratulations for ALL of us and especially children!
Yahoo! Thank you for your diligence! I’m happily shocked… 🙂
Sad it took this long, but Hooray!!!!
Thank you Vani
Thank you Vani for me, my grandchildren and their families! Great work! We are behind you 100% and stand at the ready for whatever you need us to do. I loved you book so much, now all my friends have it! A bible for the 21st century.
I signed the petition.. But what are they going to do with all those boxes of mac and cheese that are in the stores… They really sell Go… So i don’t buy their junk… There are healthy and easy way to make mac and cheese….
The next step will be to get the food manufacturers to replace the pasta in the Mac & Cheese, which is made from modern hybridized wheat flour, with pasta made from organic spelt wheat flour. Spelt is one of the more ancient forms of wheat that is a lot healthier to eat.
Easy to say but a company like Kraft will not make something for which there is a limited market…not to mention limited spelt harvests.
A small niche producer might be up to it though.
A side benefit might be that spelt has such a low profile that’s it has probably never received any attention as far as making a GM version. No profit in spending any time on it.
HungryMan, you are absolutely right. However, they could offer a gluten free version, made with rice pasta. I made some from scratch, using healthy ingredients, yesterday evening. It was delicious.
The important thing right now is getting people off of the processed forms of the modern hybridized wheat varieties and on to feeding themselves and their children something less harmful that can be addressed at a future time. This can be accomplished by educating the public, putting pressure on the food manufacturers, or both as the Food Babe is doing.
This is so awesome!!! I am super excited about this!! Way to go, Vani ,and the rest of the Food Babe Army:) !!!
Thank you for working so hard for all North Americans!
Congratulations, Vani! Your hard work has paid off.
Thank you!
So proud of you Vani! You go girl. Love u for everything you do. You are so inspiring. xoxo
great job!
Yay Vani & thank you so much for your life’s mission! Your book is great! I’m so happy about this Kraft victory!
Vani, you have done so much for this cause, the citizens of this country will be grateful for years to come! We cannot begin to thank you enough for your hard work and I hope some day your efforts are rewarded. You will go down in history as a frontrunner in changing the food industry for the better!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Victory!!! This is so fantastic!!! Congratulations
Well, that will help the hundreds of millions of mindless Americans who buy and eat whatever is in the grocery stores. Hopefully, it makes lots of news stories and more begin to find out that paying attention when choosing foods can result in more vitality.
My most-purchased dairy brand is Organic Valley, Kerrygold is another good one and the finest stores carry others.
I can no longer digest grains very well, so I don’t use the macaroni part at all.
awesome!!! thank you for helping our children eat cleaner.
“WE” Did it! Vani, we thank you with all our being! Thank you for being our Voice. You need a Medal of Honor for every Company you tackle! Thank you and Congratulations on “OUR” Victory! If I had a medal I would present it to you! ” My favorite Woman of The Year award goes to you, Vani”!
Great news. Have people looked into Azodicarbonamide in bread flour? Opa Souvlaki in Calgary, Canada use pitta breads that contain this chemical. It is an unnecessary additive and was banned in the UK circa 1995/1996. It was never permitted for use in the rest of the EU as they could not determine a test accurate enough to determine what the safe levels should be, This chemical has also been linked to asthma.
Carl, Vani and the Food Babe Army are responsible for Azodicarbonamide( the fluffing agent which is found in yoga mats and flip flops) OUT OF SUBWAY BREAD! It was a REALLY BIG DEAL. Subway even put out a commercial stating the changes in their bread! I’m sorry you missed it. Other companies have to be lobbied to follow suit. We are the strength in numbers that it takes to get the changes made, Koch bros. GMA, MonSatan, Dow and all the rest be d#*ned. I really don’t even eat bread anymore, but I’ll have a Subway sandwich every now and then and their bread TASTES BETTER! I have very sensitive taste buds and well, I can taste the difference. Look back in Van’s blog and check it out!
Great news!
Thanks for all you do! Great Job Vani! Congrats
That’s great, really. But did you know that natural annatto is the biggest natural dye allergen in our foods? It causes all kinds of extreme behavioral issues, and I’d rather my child get yellow #5 than organic annatto, which will be even more prevalent now.
That may seem small or not a crisis until you think of all the ‘unmanageable’ children on behavior drugs because of it.
So, sorry, but I am not jumping up and down for joy yet. Please go to my website, Food Babe, and look into annatto.
I’ll start eating mac & cheese again….next year !
Thanks Vani
thank you for everything that you do even that Kraft will elimanate dyes there still a junk food company and will not buy products made by Kraft
Excellent!
Thank you so much for all the great investigative work you do.
You are very much appreciated!
Hello, Vani. I love the cause that you’re supporting; changing the food industry isn’t exactly an easy task. But this is the first step… you’ve done what everyone supporting organic foods has deemed impossible, but it finally happened – a mainsteam food producer removed harmful ingredients!
This means a lot more to me, personally, because I have suffered from chemical sensitivities all my life. Eating artificial foods would trigger my chemical sensitivity, and I was sent to the hospital twice before it was realized that the artificial colors were triggering breathing problems that send me to the emergency room.
Thank you so much for choosing to support this cause. Please know that what you’re doing is going to change the world.
Sincerely, an organic-food supporter, BuyingBooks
You know….. you guys could have just gone and bought Amy’s mac n cheese……. no artificial colors. Wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic nor would it have offered so many photo ops.
I reviewed pretty much every mac ‘n cheese product I could find in my local stores.
I would agree that Amy’s frozen Mac ‘N Cheese was/is the “cleanest” product out there. It still uses annatto, instead of simply eliminating all colorings and dyes.
There is some concern that annatto has some side effects.
It seems to be pretty universal that manufacturers believe people like yellow Mac ‘N Cheese better than “albino” Mac.
You know what would have been even easier? Buying Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. No, not the kind that has given The Food Babe her latest self-congratulatory photo-op. I’m talking about Kraft’s ORGANIC Macaroni & Cheese. It’s been available at grocery stores for a couple of years now and it rates among the best boxed macaroni and cheese products on the EWG Food Score site (the same one that Vani loves to link to). In fact, Kraft’s Organic Mac & Cheese beats every entry from both Amy’s and Annie’s on the EWG chart. Don’t like annato? You’re covered there too. In addition to the organic yellow cheddar mac & cheese, Kraft makes an organic white cheddar and shells that is free of annato. You’d think that the existence of this product would merit a shout out on this site. Think again. Gee, I wonder why? I guess a post like that wouldn’t “scare” up enough site traffic to make it worth the effort.
Good job, Food Babe!!!!!
Keep rocking Vani! We are behind you. Let us eliminate hi tech from food – we don’t need human intervention for God’s gift. We have enough for everyone’s need, not for everyone’s greed.
What is the real truth about canola oil?
Blindness, Mad Cow Disease and Canola Oil, by John Thomas.
Shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.hml
Even The Center For Science In The Public Interest has bought into this hook line and sinker.
This oil seems to have just come out of the blue for the American diet.
Don’t you think we should not depend on spoon fed information about this oil the way even so called watchdog groups have done, making it a product no one needs question?
At the very lease:
What is the true history of this product?
How did it get into our food supply?
Have there been any studies on its possible risks?
How is it processed?
What is it we might realy need to know about the industry?
What about GMO?
What about chemicals and insect sprays?
what about long range problems?
Is the industry hiding anything.
I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy nut, but we need answers, but not spoon fed answers from the industry, but from independent ewsearch without a financial gain to be made in the sale of canola oil.
Hate to break it to you David but Canadian grain farmers aren’t out to get you. Canada has no conspiracy to poison you. There is nothing hidden. Maybe you should be looking at real research done by creditable institutions instead of hanging out at Shirley’s Cafe.
http://www.canolacouncil.org/oil-and-meal/what-is-canola/the-history-of-canola/
Why would anyone eat Kraft anything, especially their Mac and cheese? Taken out the toxic food colouring doesn’t make it safe, nutritional or even something that any sane person would eat? ????
Wonderful work wonderful results. God bless for your great service.
Saw this on the news tonight and thought of you right away, Vani! Congrats and thank you for all your hard work!!!
AWESOME..ABOUT TIME
THANK YOU VANI…WE ARE ALL BEHIND YOU!!
Well…yay! That’s great to hear. Now they finally take dyes out of their chessy pasta. Since it makes it addicting.
vani, what can I say that everyone has not mentioned yet, u r the utmost god in my book, many thanks for doing a wonderful job, I can’t believe this has been going on for years and someone like you stepped up to the plate to protect us from these scandrols in the food industry, I think of you with the utmost respect and thank you very much for you and for all you do!!!!!! keep well and keep charging forward, for u will win this battle to protect us all!!!!
I have appreciated the thorough research and your methodology of addressing a little at s time so changes are more accepted. Your book is very helpful. Thank you! Jeanne
YOUR MY HERO FOOD BABE
Thank u very much for all u do for us foodbabe keep up the good work. Foodbabe for president.
Sounds good, but I cannot understand why eating this ‘food’ in the first place. Eat fresh foods without packaging and labels and you are fine and do not need petitions and all that fuzz!
Nobody needs that stuff and you still making commercial for Kraft, Nestle and all other companies, even if intending ‘good’ action. Real food do not need advertising. A real good action would be to not sell this porduct in the first place, especially when claiming that this is ‘food’!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU!!! In the Netherlands (Europe;-) ), we are also still struggling with bad food.
Keep up the good work.
It is interesting that Kraft sells other similar pasta products in the US that do not have the dyes. For some reason, Kraft seemed determined not to change their recipe for the basic Mac ‘N Cheese. Assuming they follow everybody else, the dyes will be replaced with annatto.
I reviewed the ingredients for approx. 13 different pasta products. Annatto is by far the most common coloring used.
Unfortunately though, there is some concern about the safety of annatto.
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-23-annatto.aspx?activeingredientid=23&activeingredientname=annatto
Hello Vani,
I just signed up for your Food Babe Army last week. I applaud you for your perseverance and drive. My kids have been sensitive to food dyes and sugar since they were little. We only eat whole foods and rarely go out to eat except our health food stores.
After I had my first child, we began noticing that she would be up all night restless and crying after eating processed food and/ or sugar. It was quite heartbreaking to watch her. At the time, I did not believe that food was the cause of her behavior. However, after starting a whole foods diet, this all stopped.
Thank you for helping clean up our food supply.
Such great news!! Can we PLEASE take on sports drinks next? I have been involved in youth sports for years and it pains me to hear kids ask for Gatorade or powerade by the COLOR. Can’t the companies take a cue from other areas of marketing and just make cool bottles the kids will want? They could ask for a LEBRON or KOBE instead. Better yet, they could honor outstanding college athletes and likely not have to pay big name prices. So many options! 🙂
way to go, vani! congrats & thank you.
So happy to know it is finally beginning to reach a growing number of people that will actually do some good. I have been talking for years about the affect childrenfood dyes have on my children and most everyone just stared at me with no regard for what I experienced. Now 20 some years later it is finally getting out there and starting to make some change. Sure does seem the USA moves at snail speed for the important issues. So much more needs to be done. I hope it doesn’t take another 20 to get where we need to be . Thanks “Food Babe”!