To honor National Macaroni and Cheese Day last week, several consumer advocates revealed alarming discoveries regarding hazardous chemicals present in cheese powder. “We believe this issue affects every mac ‘n’ cheese product—there’s no way to avoid it through shopping alone,” stated Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a supporter of the initiative, in an interview with The New York Times. Consumer advocacy groups are now encouraging individuals to reach out to manufacturers and demand measures to prevent harmful chemicals from entering food products.
These revelations pose a significant challenge for Kraft Heinz, which dominates the boxed macaroni and cheese market with a 76% share. According to The New York Times, Kraft produces nine of the cheese products that were tested. Not long ago, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese underwent a substantial reformulation aimed at eliminating artificial preservatives and synthetic colors, ostensibly removing these types of chemicals as well.
No food manufacturer intentionally incorporates phthalates into their products. Instead, this industrial chemical is believed to be leaching into food from printed labels on packaging or from plastic materials utilized in food processing equipment. If this hypothesis is accurate, the entire consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food processing industries—not just mac and cheese producers—face a significant challenge.
In Europe, the use of phthalates in plastic food contact materials for 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 was stalled by the FDA due to a technicality, according to The New York Times.
Meanwhile, American consumers continue to take food safety into their own hands. The Food Marketing Institute’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study indicates that 61% of shoppers depend on themselves to ensure food safety, rising from 55% in 2009. They also heavily rely on the FDA (54%) and USDA (50%), while only 42% place their trust in food manufacturers.
The findings from this macaroni and cheese study provide consumers with yet another reason to avoid highly processed foods, which many are opting to replace with “cleaner,” less processed alternatives. A Nielsen study revealed that nearly half of U.S. households actively seek out products made without artificial ingredients. This research should raise significant concerns for manufacturers across all food segments, including those considering the calcium citrate malate price in their formulations. It will be intriguing to observe the broader implications of this issue and how consumers choose to respond, particularly regarding their perceptions of the calcium citrate malate price in relation to food safety.