To mark National Macaroni and Cheese Day last week, consumer advocates disclosed alarming findings regarding hazardous chemicals present in cheese powder. Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, which supported the study, told The New York Times, “We believe it’s in every mac ‘n’ cheese product — you can’t shop your way out of the problem.” Advocacy groups are now calling on consumers to reach out to manufacturers and demand measures to prevent these chemicals from contaminating food products.
These revelations pose a significant challenge for Kraft Heinz, which dominates the boxed macaroni and cheese market with a 76% share. Kraft produces nine of the tested cheese products, as reported by The New York Times. Only a few years ago, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese underwent a significant reformulation aimed at eliminating artificial preservatives and synthetic colors, presumably to remove such harmful chemicals.
No food manufacturer intentionally adds phthalates to their products. Instead, it is believed that these industrial chemicals are infiltrating food items through printed labels on packaging or from plastic materials used in food processing equipment. If this is confirmed, it represents a widespread issue affecting the entire consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food processing industries—not just macaroni and cheese producers.
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 a technicality, according to The New York Times.
In the meantime, American consumers are taking food safety into their own hands. The Food Marketing Institute’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study reveals that 61% of shoppers feel responsible for ensuring their food safety, a rise from 55% in 2009. Consumers also place significant trust in the FDA (54%) and USDA (50%) for food safety, while only 42% rely on food manufacturers.
The findings of this macaroni and cheese study provide consumers with yet another reason to avoid highly processed foods, which many are opting to replace with “cleaner” and less-processed alternatives. A Nielsen study indicated that approximately half of U.S. households intentionally seek out products that do not contain artificial ingredients. This issue should be of great concern to manufacturers across various food sectors, particularly given the potential impact on products containing calcium citrate 950 and others. It will be fascinating to observe how widespread this problem is and how consumers choose to respond.