Have any of you heard of this? If not, it is an issue that bears thinking about.
The bloggers who started the petition are not against the entire Kraft mac and cheese, just the food colorings in them. The colorings, esp the yellow ones, are proven to cause problems for some adhd children and to trigger migraines in a large portion of migraine sufferers. Changing to a natural food color would NOT be a big deal. Kraft is already selling macaroni and cheese in England that has all natural colorings. So Kraft clearly knows how to do this, they are just choosing to not sell it in the US.
Food color is one of my biggest peeves. I actually don't mind using it for cake and cookie decorating, but the quantities used in the home or even by professional bakers is far less than what is in a product like Kraft Mac and Cheese. I react to LOTS of food colorings, so I have had to read labels and give up foods I really enjoy because of the amount and types of food colorings in them.
The two moms who started this looked at other efforts to change food colorings in the past. They believe that past efforts were very generalized, aimed at taking them out of all products. Large corporations threw millions at lawmakers to ensure that the laws would not change and the protestors were ignored. With that in mind, these moms chose Kraft mac and Cheese to start their efforts. This product is marketed to children (you can't tell me they make Spongebob and Pokemon shaped noodles for the adults) and children are more susceptible to problems from dyes and additives because their bodies are still developing. After they get enough people to join them and they convince Kraft to offer the US market the version sold in the UK, they will move to another food.
this is a sound strategy for making change happen, in my opinion. It is something that many of may want to support, and if we can accomplish this change, we can accomplish more change so that our children have an easier time making healthy choices.
The naturally colored version sold in the UK did not come about as the result of pressure from lawmakers. It happened as a result of pressure from consumers. If Kraft can make changes due to consumer pressure in one country, there is no reason they can't or won't inour country.
Here is a link to the news story: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/...-to-rid-kraft-mac-cheese-artificial-coloring/
There is a link to the petition in the news story if anyone is interested.
The bloggers who started the petition are not against the entire Kraft mac and cheese, just the food colorings in them. The colorings, esp the yellow ones, are proven to cause problems for some adhd children and to trigger migraines in a large portion of migraine sufferers. Changing to a natural food color would NOT be a big deal. Kraft is already selling macaroni and cheese in England that has all natural colorings. So Kraft clearly knows how to do this, they are just choosing to not sell it in the US.
Food color is one of my biggest peeves. I actually don't mind using it for cake and cookie decorating, but the quantities used in the home or even by professional bakers is far less than what is in a product like Kraft Mac and Cheese. I react to LOTS of food colorings, so I have had to read labels and give up foods I really enjoy because of the amount and types of food colorings in them.
The two moms who started this looked at other efforts to change food colorings in the past. They believe that past efforts were very generalized, aimed at taking them out of all products. Large corporations threw millions at lawmakers to ensure that the laws would not change and the protestors were ignored. With that in mind, these moms chose Kraft mac and Cheese to start their efforts. This product is marketed to children (you can't tell me they make Spongebob and Pokemon shaped noodles for the adults) and children are more susceptible to problems from dyes and additives because their bodies are still developing. After they get enough people to join them and they convince Kraft to offer the US market the version sold in the UK, they will move to another food.
this is a sound strategy for making change happen, in my opinion. It is something that many of may want to support, and if we can accomplish this change, we can accomplish more change so that our children have an easier time making healthy choices.
The naturally colored version sold in the UK did not come about as the result of pressure from lawmakers. It happened as a result of pressure from consumers. If Kraft can make changes due to consumer pressure in one country, there is no reason they can't or won't inour country.
Here is a link to the news story: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/...-to-rid-kraft-mac-cheese-artificial-coloring/
There is a link to the petition in the news story if anyone is interested.