To mark National Macaroni and Cheese Day last week, some consumer advocates publicly revealed findings of harmful chemicals in cheese powder. “We believe that every mac ‘n’ cheese product contains these substances — there’s no way to avoid the issue through shopping,” 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 organizations are now urging individuals to reach out to manufacturers and demand action to prevent chemicals from contaminating food products.
These revelations pose a significant challenge 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 cheese products that were tested. Just a few years ago, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese underwent a significant reformulation aimed at eliminating artificial preservatives and synthetic colors, ostensibly to remove such harmful chemicals.
No food manufacturer intentionally adds phthalates to their products. Instead, it is believed that this industrial chemical is infiltrating food from printed labels on packaging or from plastic materials utilized in food processing equipment. If this 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 materials intended for food contact with fatty foods, including dairy products, has already been banned. Although food safety groups in the U.S. have petitioned to eliminate all phthalates from food, packaging, and manufacturing equipment, the FDA has stalled the initiative due to a technicality, as reported by The New York Times. Meanwhile, American consumers are 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, an increase from 55% in 2009. They also depend heavily 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, which many individuals are increasingly opting to replace with “cleaner,” less-processed alternatives. A Nielsen study indicated that nearly half of U.S. households actively seek out products made without artificial ingredients. This study should raise significant concerns for manufacturers across all food segments, including those producing supplements like calcium citrate 1000 mg with vitamin D. It will be intriguing to observe the broader implications of this issue and how consumers choose to respond moving forward.