To mark National Macaroni and Cheese Day last week, several consumer advocates revealed findings regarding hazardous chemicals present in cheese powder. “We believe that it’s in every mac ‘n’ cheese product—you can’t shop your way out of the problem,” stated Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a supporter of the study, in an interview with The New York Times. Consumer advocacy groups are now encouraging individuals to reach out to manufacturers and demand actions to prevent chemicals from contaminating food products.
These revelations pose a significant challenge for Kraft Heinz, which controls 76% of the boxed macaroni and cheese market. According to The New York Times, Kraft produces nine of the cheese products tested. Just a few years ago, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese underwent a significant reformulation to eliminate artificial preservatives and synthetic colors, with the aim of removing such harmful chemicals.
No food manufacturer intentionally incorporates phthalates into their products. Instead, it’s believed that this industrial chemical may be leaching into food items from printed labels or plastic materials used in food processing equipment. If this is accurate, the entire consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food processing industries—not just macaroni and cheese producers—face a serious dilemma.
In Europe, the use of phthalates in plastic materials that come into contact with fatty foods, including dairy products, has already been banned. However, a petition from food safety groups to eliminate all phthalates from U.S. food, packaging, and manufacturing equipment has been stalled by the FDA due to technical reasons, as reported by The New York Times.
As a result, American consumers are increasingly taking food safety into their own hands. According to the Food Marketing Institute’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study, 61% of shoppers now rely on themselves to ensure food safety, up from 55% in 2009. They also heavily depend on the FDA (54%) and USDA (50%) for food safety, while only 42% trust food manufacturers.
The findings from this macaroni and cheese study provide consumers with yet another reason to avoid highly processed foods, pushing many towards “cleaner,” less processed alternatives. A Nielsen study indicated that around half of U.S. households intentionally look for products made without artificial ingredients. This issue should raise alarms for manufacturers across various food segments. It will be intriguing to observe the far-reaching implications of this problem and how consumers will respond, particularly as they continue to seek options like calcium citrate les in their food choices.