Food Dyes/Kraft

By now you have probably heard of the petition that has been created to persuade Kraft to remove food dyes from their mac and cheese.  Two women, Vani Hari (www.foodbabe.com) and Lisa Leake (100daysofrealfood.com) have obtained at least 275,000 signatures on the petition for Kraft to stop using yellow dye #5 and #6 in their mac and cheese.  In Europe, these petroleum-based dyes are not used by Kraft, instead they use natural things like beta carotene to give the pasta the same color.  If foods do contain these food dyes in Europe they must contain a warning label that says they may cause hyperactivity and excitability in children.  After multiple taste tests it has been shown that both kinds of mac and cheese taste exactly the same!  So why doesn't Kraft want to remove these harmful food dyes?

The last few months Vani and Lisa have been attempting to contact Kraft to speak with them about their concerns and for months, Kraft has ignored their multiple attempts.  The breakthrough came yesterday when Kraft finally allowed Vani to enter their headquarters in Chicago and speak with them!  Initially, Kraft has repeatedly released statements that they have over 40 different mac and cheese products, and 13 of them do not contain yellow dyes.  However, the ones that do contain the food dyes are the ones targeted to children with cartoon characters on the box.  Also, some of the products without food dyes are in their organic products which are more expensive and harder to find.  And if they can do this in Europe, why not in the US?

The results of their meeting with Kraft are still being released, but according to this radio interview http://wgnradio.com/2013/04/02/food-fight-blogger-at-war-with-mac-cheese/ they do not have future plans to remove the dyes.  And after being asked repeatedly as to why European products do not contain the dyes and US foods do, they continued to say, "I don't know".  

It's not too late to sign the petition!  Go here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/kraft-stop-using-dangerous-food-dyes-in-our-mac-cheese

And it's not just about mac and cheese, a lot of the people who signed the petition do not eat Kraft mac and cheese and do not plan to anytime soon.  But, this petition is a start.  There are so many dangerous chemicals added to American foods that are illegal in other countries and they are impacting our health.  Vani and Lisa received hundreds of letters from parents stating how these food dyes have affected their children and once they were removed from their diet, their symptoms vanished.  

For a list of 13 chemicals allowed in US foods that are banned in other countries, visit http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/13-banned-foods-still-allowed-us.  And if you are interested in eating REAL food, check out www.100daysofrealfood.com.