To mark National Macaroni and Cheese Day last week, consumer advocates revealed troubling findings regarding hazardous chemicals in cheese powder. “We believe that every mac ‘n’ cheese product contains these chemicals—you can’t simply avoid the issue by shopping differently,” stated Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a supporter of the research, to The New York Times. Consumer advocacy groups are now urging individuals to reach out to manufacturers and demand actions to prevent these chemicals from entering food products.
These findings pose significant challenges for Kraft Heinz, which holds a 76% share of the boxed macaroni and cheese market. According to The New York Times, Kraft produces nine of the tested cheese products. A few years back, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese underwent a significant reformulation aimed at eliminating artificial preservatives and synthetic colors, ostensibly to eradicate these types of chemicals.
No food manufacturer is intentionally adding phthalates to their products. Instead, it is believed that these industrial chemicals are contaminating food either through printed labels on packaging or from plastic materials used in food processing equipment. If this is indeed accurate, the entire consumer packaged goods and food processing sectors—not just macaroni and cheese producers—are facing a substantial issue.
In Europe, the use of phthalates in plastic food contact materials for fatty foods, including dairy products, has already been banned. However, The New York Times reports that a petition from food safety groups to eliminate all phthalates from U.S. food, packaging, and manufacturing equipment was stalled by the FDA due to technicalities.
Meanwhile, U.S. consumers are taking food safety matters into their own hands. The Food Marketing Institute’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study indicates that 61% of shoppers now rely on themselves to ensure food safety, up from 55% in 2009. They also depend significantly on the FDA (54%) and USDA (50%) for food safety, while only 42% trust food manufacturers.
The results of this macaroni and cheese study provide consumers with yet another reason to avoid highly processed foods, which many people are opting to replace with “cleaner,” less-processed options. A Nielsen study revealed that nearly half of U.S. households actively seek products made without artificial ingredients. This issue should raise alarms for manufacturers across various food segments.
As consumers increasingly gravitate toward cleaner options, such as those made with pure encaps calcium citrate, it will be intriguing to observe the extent of this concern and how it influences consumer behavior. The implications of this study are profound, highlighting a growing demand for transparency and safety in food products, particularly in the context of macaroni and cheese, and the broader food industry.