We rarely buy it BUT, every once in a while my daughter {who eats healthy about 95% of the time} asks for boxed Macaroni and Cheese. So I’ll pick some up. I figure the RARE times she indulges in it are not really worth worrying about.
The most standard boxed macaroni and cheese in the U.S. is Kraft. There are store knock-off brands, a few organic choices, and a handful of regional choices, but I am going to stick with Kraft, because I think it is the most widely available.
Here’s the list of ingredients I found on Amazon:
Enriched Macaroni Product (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate [Iron], Thiamin Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid) Cheese Sauce Mix (Whey, Milkfat, Milk Protein Concentrate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Contains less than 2% of Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Milk, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Enzymes, Cheese Culture).
Kraft has been under a lot of scrutiny this past year because of a recent label on a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the U.K. {Most of Europe has much stricter disclosure laws when it comes to food than we do here in the U.S.}. The imported U.S. version of Mac and Cheese had a label affixed to it that indicated that the wheat was GMO. And that the yellow dyes #5 and #6 “May Cause Adverse Effects On Activity And Attention In Children.” According to one article I found, the GMO claim has not been proven, Kraft states that they do not use GMO wheat, but do use GMO’s in some of their products. The yellow dyes they do use, however, and there have been studies that show that artificial dyes negatively affect children.
Before you ban Mac & Cheese from your cupboards, there is a silver lining: It turns out, consumers DO have power over what they are buying. The uproar of the label caused such a stir that Kraft responded to a petition asking them to remove the artificial coloring. Sometime this year, the Sponge Bob version of the lunch staple will be revamped with “six additional grams of whole grains, be lower in sodium and saturated fat, and will use spices instead of artificial food dyes to recreate the pasta’s famous yellow-orange color.”
Wouldn’t it be awesome if ALL of our food could be revamped without dangerous ingredients so that we would all have one less things to worry about?
~Mavis
Don’t want to chance the boxed stuff? Try making it at home, it’s super simple, I promise. Try my recipes for Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese or Baked Mac and Cheese.
erin s says
I feel like my pantry has been empty since I started reading labels and not buying food with artificial dyes. Even wheat bread has caramel coloring in it. What CAN we eat anymore! And good luck buying pickles without yellow dye.
Michelle says
I know! I just recently started looking at ingredients and was disappointed to see my favorite pickles have yellow dye, along with every other kind out there. My moms home canned ones don’t look horrible without dye so why do they think they need to add it to store bought ones?
Diana says
I love the box stuff, but I can’t buy it or keep it in the house, because I will eat the whole box in one sitting, like a drug. I also love homemade mac and cheese, so I occasionally (and ONLY occasionally) make it as a treat.
Runner’s World has a great recipe for Cauliflower Mac and Cheese that I also love–both for how it tastes, and for how healthy it is. http://recipes.runnersworld.com/Recipe/creamy-cauliflower-mac.aspx
Brooke says
I love Annie’s organic Mac n cheese! I know homemade is better, but when I need a quick lunch, Annie’s is a good choice.
Lisa says
I only buy the organic stuff anymore for my kid. And most wheat products in this country are in the very least incredibly engineered. I’m off of wheat altogether and it’s made a huge difference in how I feel. I’m also thisclose to eliminating all wheat from the house. Sadly, that’s really hard to do when you have a kid. Even the dog is wheat/gluten-free.
Kamiko says
Here is a rule of thumb, if you cant pronounce a word on the label, dont know what the ingredient is by its scientific name, the label does not say its GMO free, you can bet your sweet hiney it contains at least one Monsanto ingredient. whats the sad part? USA is the only country that hasn’t banned Monsanto or GMO foods yet. Even Mexico banned Monsanto and GMO corn when they learned how it could kill off their precious Corn crops!