Since Kraft did not show up to The Dr. Oz Show, we’ve contacted Kraft directly via email (now twice) and left a voicemail. We received an automatic reply that the head of the Mac & Cheese division is out of the office. This probably isn’t the best time for her to be out, don’t you think?
We are patiently awaiting a response… until then, we plan to get this message out as much as possible.
I hope you enjoy the media clips below – 3 of them are from the last 24 hours. All of these interviews with Lisa and me are so different – I’d love to know which one you liked the best. See you in the comments!
XOXO,
Food Babe
The Dr. Oz Show – Food Dyes: Are they Safe?
CNN LIVE: Starting Point – March 15, 2013 (Please note – CNN cut off my last point on their version of the video online – but the live TV version is captured below. After you watch the video, I’d love to know why you think they did that!)
Fox News: Bloggers Against Mac & Cheese – March 15, 2013
Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston
NBC Nightly News – March 8, 2013
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Good Morning America – Kraft Mac and Cheese: Bloggers Want Food Dye Removed – Friday March 8, 2013
P.S. Don’t forget to sign this petition to remove artificial food dyes and share it with everyone you know! Also – going over to the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Facebook Page to share your thoughts wouldn’t be such a bad idea either.
I think that what you two are doing is great.
Thank you for all the hard work you do to get the message out about the dangers of mass-produced, chemical laden food. These food factories should care more about what they are putting in their “food”, but then again, we should know better than to buy this crap.
I’m also a follower of you two! On Facebook! Thanks for all you do! I’ve been sharing your posts trying to keep the word spreading. I’m with everyone else. Lets just start a boycott! It wouldn’t affect us since I’ve been done with Yellow 5 and 6 for a while now – but let’s tell Kraft we’re over them!! 🙂
This is so amazing that you guys are doing this! I am so proud of you and proud of the adults that are stepping up to make a change for our children and country’s health! Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you have your Dr. Oz segment here! What a fabulous job you two did! Spot on perfect! I also watched CNN Live this morning and you rocked that interview too. I am elated that you have drawn so much attention to this issue!
And oh, by the way, here’s another food coloring sensitivity story for you. My oldest child went feral on food colorings. Complete deer in headlights look on her face in addition to throwing herself on the couch repeatedly within 5 mins of eating dum dum lollipops. I recall so well the moment I put 2 and 2 together. Three little girls each bought “Ring Pops” at the baseball concession stand. They sat down on the bleachers together and within 5 minutes my daughter began running at top speed in giant circles in the grassy area behind the bleachers. Feral and out of control for at least 5 minutes, nothing could stop her, she just kept running and running. The other 2 little girls sat still and blissfully enjoyed their Ring Pops. That was it for me. Radical behavior change culprit found. We started our journey to replace all the chemical laden foods in our pantry that day. And yes, it made an immediate difference. Feral child returned to normal. 8 years later I’m still adamantly opposed to giving my kids artificial colored foods. They still get them at Halloween and school parties, but thanks to you amazing ladies, I hope more moms and kid-party-throwers out there will stop and think twice before choosing to serve artificially colored foods to children.
My sincere thanks to you both!
Beth in NC
*BTW, Matthews is my hometown and I am thrilled that 100 Days of Real Food has its roots there!
Food coloring is in everything. They color our prescriptions, school lunches such as tomato sauce to give it a brighter color. It is every where. My little girl is allergic to red40 she get miagraine so bad they sent her to a neurologist to see what was cause her headaches. Can you guess food colors. It is hard to find food to send for lunches, for treats, and worse holidays. No fun for her she can’t eat the candy she gets.
Thank you so much! This is great!!
Im so glad that your petition is getting the national attention it deserves. What Dr.Jameson (on the Dr.Oz show) said was so true. The FDA doesnt seem to care as much about the safety of Americans as the UK government does about its citizens. We can do better!!
Thanks to you and Lisa for your constant and tireless efforts!
Great job!!
I’m so thrilled and excited about how this has taken off. You ladies are doing an incredible service for consumers – even if Kraft decides not to do anything, the level of awareness among the “average Joes” has clearly been raised. Good work!
Standing up to applaud you. Let’s stop ALL companies!!! Thank you!!!!!!
Thanks for speaking up, and keep up the good work!
Congrats! I liked Dr. Oz the best; he seemed qeniuely interested and concerned. I hope this gets the attention of other companies besides Kraft since they seem to be on vacation (literally). Maybe someone can step up and be an industry leader.
You girls ROCK! Go get ’em!!
You killed it ladies!! Keep up the good work. I follow you both very closely and share alot of your posts, investigations, and recipes with my friends and family. I’ve been educating my family and friends for a long time on food/nutrition and am so glad that you two are out there fighting for better food in the public eye. I believe you can do it and look forward to seeing some change! Keep up the fight!
WOW! You girls are incredible.I am proud to know you.Oh wait I don’t know you,but I feel like I do. Keep up the great work.
Vani and Lisa, great job! I am so impressed that you have made it to this level of your mission. You are so inspiring… Vani, please do not take this the wrong way, but I have noticed that you sound extremely nervous whenever you appear on television. I realize you are very passionate, and it must be very hard for you to calmly channel you energy when teaching. I would suggest taking deep breaths, relaxing the facial muscles, and slowing down when you talk. In other words, try not to sound so desperate. 😀
Great job, guys!!!!
I like the desperation. On the CNN clip, the interviewers acted as if this segment was just before their lunch break and as if they just didn’t care and wanted to get going. They didn’t seem genuinely interested at all, or even as if they believed that this is a problem. I love The urgency in Vani’s voice–it helps get the point across. Speaks louder than words.
This is true. I never thought of it that way. I was annoyed by the seemingly ignorant and careless broadcasters! How can they be unaffected by this? I think that just because Vani and Lisa were not government officials, doctors, movie stars, or even college-educated nutritionists does not mean they are not worthy, important, or intelligent enough to speak out about this subject. However, it seems as if a significant percentage of the population is interested in this information and wants to learn, which says something about the work Vani and Lisa are doing.
Thank you SO MUCH for doing the hard work! I’m so excited to see the progress the two of you have made. National public attention! YES!!! As far as the different segments go: you both did a great job getting the main point across on each interview – the responsibility that Kraft should do the right thing based on 1) their knowledge of potential risks identified in other countries and 2) the clear ability to make the same change they made for the UK. This is another clear case of corporate greed; choosing profit over people.
Of course it’s great to have Dr. Oz as an advocate. He understands the health implications and cares about educating consumers. So…the segment with Dr. Oz was by far the most enjoyable and filled me with a sense of hope. On the other hand, the other “news” shows’ reactions are disappointing. It’s so STRANGE to me that these TV personalities – the people who influence American viewers – seem to NOT GET THE POINT. They make jokes and giggle and move on to the next story like they’re not phased at all. That is scary to me. i hope the message gets through to the public despite the lack of media responsibility. geez!
you can lead a horse to water….
Again, thank you for your dedication to the common good.
Love,
Leslie Rash
Long Beach, CA
Wow ladies!! I am so inspired! What you are doing is amazing and I thank you for all your hard work! I totally agree with the statement above…..they sounded almost in shock that you guys were doing what you are doing when they have the real power to educate the world!! Good on you….keep it up! I feel like this has to work, I mean come on Kraft, how could you not get it at this point!!!
Great job ladies… You are getting the point across…also next battle is the GMO problem in the USA.
What is wrong with our government that they don’t care about our health???? It seems to be all about money and who is getting paid off… Monsanto, and big company’s who own the food business.
Go go them ladies..
Yes, Monsanto needs to be brought into spotlight. I was just watching “Michael Clayton” and it makes me wonder how many “memorandum #229″‘s they Are hiding. So scary
Great to see you two with Dr. Oz and Michael Jacobsen! I signed the petition and wrote on Kraft’s facebook page. Great job! From a proud fellow North Carolinian
I was REALLY hoping you were going to talk about how these giant corporations lobby Congress and pay off politicians to allow WHATEVER they want to add to food because it’s cheap! Money talks and it should really piss everyone off.
You rock!!
My 5 year old son and I just finished watching you on Dr. Oz. I was completely amazed at how much attention he paid to what you guys were talking about. He called Kraft “bad guys” for putting things in our food that make people sick. His favorite food is mac and cheese and I never would have expected him to react the way he did to this show. It was a great opportunity for me to talk to him about why it’s so important to know what’s in our food. Thank you soooo much for putting so much work into this movement. It’s very inspiring! Even my husband, who loves all processed food, is proactively looking for foods without dyes because of how much I’ve been talking about what you’re doing. You are making a positive difference in peoples lives, despite Krafts pathetic response.
Benjamin Feingold knew since 1973 how artificial colors and artificial flavors can cause hyperactivity in children…but big FOOD COMPANIES want to save as much money as possible and take advantage of our poor law!! It is time to wake up!!
Thank you for doing this 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Feingold
If you want to know more about this subjet read this book: Why your child is hyperactive?, by Benjamin Feingold
Thank you, Little French Green Girl
One good change at a time 🙂
The Feingold Association and the Feingold Program saved my son from a lifetime of alphabet soup diagnoses (ADHD, ODD, SPD, depression, Tourette’s & asthma) and multiple meds. I have been a member for 8 years & a volunteer for 7 1/2 years. It is a wonderful support group for people wanting to eliminate these harmful artificial petroleum based additives. Thank you Lisa & Vani for helping make more people aware of these harmful substances.
I have also seen the effects of artificial colors and flavors, along with those of some preservatives. The petroleum based products seem to be the worst! My youngest son is affected the most in our family, but we all suffer to some degree. Eczema, psoriasis, asthma, extreme explosive aggression, hyperactivity, autistic behaviors, and more. My son went from almost institutionalized to almost fitting in with other seven year olds within a month of removing all artificial dyes and being on the Feingold Program. It saved our lives, and allowed us to see our son’s beautiful blue eyes shining again…instead of glossed over and unable to focus on the outside world. What you ladies are doing in getting the word out is wonderful. People don’t understand how important this really is, and how much it is affecting the health of the children in our country. Thank you.
Signed it! Hopefully this will start real change in our food industry. Thank you for caring about the health of our children!
Every food item in the grocery stores (packaged, frozen prepared,canned) has food dyes and preservatives,the idea of grocery stores has made the demand of shelf life the norm. When we had small Mom and Pop stores and the food was mostly local,the shelf life was non-exsistant,all the additives are remaining in our bodies,that is why we have so many that are diabetes 2 and obesity. But more importantly, since the 50’s the food manufacturers have exploded with additives,your concern right now are the dyes, but the sugars and salts and fats are also the problem,there are now 3 generations that have been eating those products,going back to basics is one answer,and that is what the food industry is wanting to prevent,we must all learn to cook, bake and be aware of what we are using.Red dye 40 was proven to be cancerous, but it is still being used in a variety of food products(cake mixes,soups,ect) and another food additive is MSG(also to cause cancer)is in every soup,most gravies,and many other products(check out the frozen diners)the FDA has had cuts from our Congress,so much of the inspections are not full,nor routinely checked.To put it mildly you have just started to open a very large can of worms,don’t give up, the more that people know the more many of the ailments can get corrected in both the young and old.Good luck, and keep the pace! Oh by the way contact Mother Jones,a good site to get it out there.
This is exciting, changing our food one product at a time. Look how trans fat was cut down by getting the word out. Way to go you two!
Congratulations ladies!! you both are doing such wonderful, amazing, life-changing work and I truly appreciate it!! You ladies ROCK!!!
Thank YOU!!! This is not something new to many people but it took me 11yrs to figure out what was bugging my son. It’s not only yellow 5&6 but Red 40, Red 3 which is a pesticide, and many other colors. Who knew, right? I would love for a big company like KRAFT to completely stop using these products and be the leader in truly caring about their consumers and our health. Our children will benefit the most from this and the parents will get the added benefit of peace and happiness in our homes.
Lets get our priorities straight!!!
This stuff has been happening for years. I am a teacher and I see it in the kids all the time. Many years ago (in the 80s!) I taught a kid whose behaviour was so intensely “evil”, he even set fire to his brother’s bed! His mum took him to a dietician and they eliminated ‘junk food’ from his diet. There was a massive improvement. This kid was a new person. At the school, all the lunchboxes were collected in the morning and placed in a huge cool room. This kid started behaving badly again. We thought, maybe it’s just him…we’re doing everything we can…but then other kids were reporting that ‘stuff’was missing from their lunchboxes. This kid was sneaking into the cool room and stealing chips and biscuits and all sorts of ‘junk’ from other’s lunchboxes! Members of my own family cannot have red cordial because they behave irrationally and we found this out in the 80s. This stuff has been known for decades. It’s amazing to me that the American FDA still approve the use of such crap in foods. Australia are no better. Big companies want money and they don’t care who they harm to get it. Money is the bottom line. In Australia we have food labelling but all of the numbers explaining the additives are NOT explained. People become blase about what they’re eating. We are heading down the same road as America in the way that our population is becoming more and more obese and type 2 diabetes is prevalent. There is a strong following of natural and organic foods but even then, companies that claim to be organic then whack on a huge bill. It’s too expensive to be healthy and people fall into the trap of the cheaper versions of food just to survive, not worrying about things such as food additives. I did a unit of work at my school about McDonalds and all the food additives in one big Mac. I got a phone call from a parent abusing me because “what was she going to feed her daughter now who refused to eat Maccas with the rest of the family…” The problem is enormous all over the country. We do have some things in place. Schools are starting to control what students bring in lunchboxes, and canteens are limited to what they can sell depending on the sugar content. But saying that, they still sell carbonated drinks that are approved because they’re ‘diet’ and they are full of aspartame. It will be hard to crack the cycle….. good luck and we’re with you 100%.
Seeing you both on the Dr. Oz show clup brought tears to my eyes. This is so wonderful what you both are doing. So many people watch this show and this is definitely getting the word out. Most people look at me like I’m crazy when I will then where these ingredients come from. My youngest son’s ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Tourette’s Syndrome, migraine headaches, and stomach aches are SO much better, if not eliminated, when he doesn’t eat artificial dyes, flavors, and preservatives.
Amazing!!!! I salut you. Girls you rocked it!!!!!! It’s about time that we say “enough is enough”!
We should take it globally to ban ALL food dyes and chemicals from food. Multi millions companies will make a difference if their “profits” will hurt.
I really don’t understand how come governments allow those harmful dyes etc in our food. They practically poisoning us slowly…
No more packaged food for us!!!! 🙂
I’m at the other end of the age spectrum of most of your followers. I began to eat healthy (mostly fruits and vegetables) about ten years ago. Over-qualified to be a senior citizen and having to live very carefully on social security benefits, I have decided that it’s cheaper to buy real food than to pay for prescriptions. (I spend $44.00 a year on prescriptions. ) Saving on food for me is mostly a matter of portion control. Thinking back, I used to eat enough for two or three!
Very useful information on foods that we consume every day without any awareness what problems some artificial ingradients do to our wellbeing. We would like to have some more of this kind to stay away from harmfull foods.Good job, Vani and Lisa.Thanks.
So proud of you guys! Thanks for getting this issue out there to mainstream media. I’m happy that we are all in the same health advocacy corner. 🙂
Great job guys!!! All the interviews were great and it is so exciting that this information is getting out there. Hopefully it will reach many more and Kraft will step up to the plate!!
Simply amazing! What is the CNN ladies deal? Did she not hear that it’s hurting children? Yes there may be alternatives but Kraft is KNOWINGLY hurting children if they continue to put the dyes in their foods. You 2 ladies are phenomenal and your passion for this issue in our food supply brings me to tears, sometimes. You WILL succeed. Please don’t stop what you’re doing! AMERICA needs you! God Bless!!
Amazing!! Keep it up!!!! So proud of you guys and you both were very well spoken!!!
Thank you, Dr. Jacobson, for all you have done to help make our food safer. I hope that the FDA listens to you and restricts the dyes.
Way to go!!! You’re doing an incredible job getting the word out about this incredibly important issue. Thank you for being a voice for all of us!
You both did an excellent jog with the interviews…Antagonistic much over at FOX? What was going on there? I think you held your ground very well though. Of course people have options, but as you say, most people are not really researching processed food–they are just grabbing something to feed themselves or families. We are totally disassociated with our food in this country and we will not be more intelligent about it until someone sounds the alarm…Like you are doing. Thank you for the hard work!
Such a great job. I bet Kraft is hoping this all goes away.
My 22 y/o daughter is in Ireland for 6 months. She frequently takes pictures of the ingredients in their food and sends them on for comparison. Their potato chip ingredients….Potato, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, carrot powder for coloring.That is it. Now I would have to continue on to another reply site if I listed the US ingredients.
Since she has been there, she has no more headaches, no blemishes, no more severe period cramps and has no trouble sleeping like at home. She was overweight from her college years and lost 22 pounds without even trying. She can concentrate better also. She is tired by 9 pm, sleeps the entire night and wakes up by 7 without an alarm. Her feet were always hot. She would frequently step outside and put them in cold water. This isn’t happening anymore. Who knows how chemicals affect a person?
Wow what a change. All of the beef is grass fed. If they drink milk at all, it is goat’s milk. No milk is provided at school. The kids drink water. There are no peanut allergies or allergies at all that she has come across. Most of the folks are healthy until their late 80’s.
This is the change I hope for. One person can make a change. You have done well. We appreciate you. Thank you.
Love them all, but particularly the spot on Dr. Oz. I am always hearing people discussing surprising things that they have heard on that show, and I am so excited that this message is going out to so many who aren’t necessarily unconcerned, just unaware. I have always taken a deep interest in healthy eating and nutrition, and until I stumbled upon Lisa’s site a year ago, I had NO CLUE that artificial colors were even an issue. I’m hoping that no matter what Kraft does, people will begin to be more aware of what is in the food they feed their children…and what is in the snacks that they share with mine at daycare, church, etc. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for all you’re doing. As a special education teacher, I often wonder what behavioral differences I would see in my students if their parents subscribed to a whole food diet. I hope that Kraft leads the way in making a change. We need it.
I finally saw Dr. Oz…OMG, you two were AMAZING!!!! So professional and so knowledgeable. THANK YOU!!!!
Great job ladies.. this exposure is years overdue.. Your actions will help change things permanently.. Parents need to stop ignoring this issue and think it doesn’t impact their families!
Great job! I liked Dr. Oz interview the best. He was more engaged & wholeheartedly supported your cause. He was stunned by some of your facts about the UK labeling comparison. And to affect change, stunning is what you have to do. Your passion came through and I’m super proud of what you’re doing in taking a stand against Kraft. Maybe other food companies who really care will just remove Yellow 5 and 6 from their products. If so, that would be a victory, too.
Thank you for this. My son reacts to artificial ingredients (yellow 5 especially) in the most horrible way. It breaks my heart to think of all the times I thought there may be something wrong with him, when all along I was feeding him things I thought were healthy foods. Instead they were like poison to him. I now make all his faves like ranch dressing, bbq sauce, mac and cheese and many others from scratch so I control the ingredients. These dyes are not just in foods, check the labels on hair care, skin care, toothpaste as well. Even the stripes in the toothbrush bristles are dyed. What a difference changing out things has made, and he prefers fresh over the packaged stuff. Bless you, please keep up the good work, you have my wholehearted support.
Thank you for your activism and for bringing this issue to mainstream America. Educating the American public is so necessary. Please view my video entitled “ADHD – Healing the Myth” on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4MLUbybdbk or on my website at http://www.thegiftofyou.com – Together we can all help children be the gift they came here to be – naturally! Thank you again!
Thanks so much for starting this petition! I posted on Kraft M&C’s Facebook wall but it was marked as spam. So glad you have gotten the media attention this subject needs. I was ignorant to the food industry in this country until about 7 months ago. Oh how I wish I had known years ago, the things I would have done differently for my kids, my husband and myself! I’m thankful my kids are still at home where I can education them on this subject before they venture out on their own. Thanks again, blessings to you!
I liked them all! I didn’t hear you mention your blog on the Dr. Oz show though. That was the only thing I noticed.
What a great video with Dr. Oz, you explained it so well. I knew artificial anything was bad, but did not know it was from petroleum or it caused hyper activity. I’m a teacher and some of the adults were noticing how many of the kids only eat carbs (I’m allergic to gluten), or processed foods (chips, cookies, packaged lunches, etc.). Same conversation was also how some kids acted so hyper! I guess they go hand-in-hand often. We feed our son only natural food, nothing processed, but it is a shame that schools sell junk food and other parents also buy this too. I’m concerned about when my son is older and pays attention to what others are eating, now he is only 2.5. I am forwarding your email to the nutrition group at my school as well to my wife. Thank you for your efforts. I’ll sign the petition too!