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CHARLOTTE, NC — Two mothers are petitioning Kraft to remove the artificial colors that give their macaroni and cheese its iconic orange hue, hoping that other food companies will follow suit.
Vani Hari, of the blog Food Babe, and Lisa Leake from 100 days of Real Food, are calling for the removal of Yellow 5, or tartrazine, and Yellow 6 from Kraft's macaroni and cheese.
In their petition, they claim that 30 Kraft macaroni and cheese products contain the artificial dyes and that it is "unfair to the children lured by these products (several packages showcase cartoon characters), unfair to the less fortunate who buy these products because they are cheaper, and unfair to the uneducated consumer that is unaware of these harmful ingredients."
The petition has garnered more than 160,000 signatures since it was put online earlier this week.
Hari and Leake have called for Kraft to be proactive in making their products more healthy.
"Kraft Foods is the largest food company headquartered in the United States," the women wrote on Change.org. "If Kraft changes their Macaroni and Cheese, we know this could inspire other food companies across the US to finally eliminate dangerous artificial food dyes once and for all."
The color tartrazine provides can be replaced by turmeric, lutein, carotene or saffron, according to the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency.
Our kids deserve the same safer version that our friends get overseas.
–Vani Hari and Lisa Leake
After a 2007 study linked tartrazine and five other artificial colors to hyperactivity in some young children, manufacturers in the U.K. were asked to voluntarily remove the colors. Legislation later required additional labeling on products containing any one of six artificial colors: Tartrazine or Yellow 5, Sunset Yellow or Yellow 6, Quinoline Yellow, Carmoisine, Allura Red and Ponceau.
"We've heard the removal of artificial food dyes is already something Kraft is considering, and we hope hearing from your consumers will finally put this change into action," the petition says.
"Our kids deserve the same safer version that our friends get overseas," they wrote.
Kraft responded on Wednesday, saying they use only the colors that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.
"The safety and quality of our products is our highest priority and we take consumer concerns very seriously. We carefully follow the laws and regulations in the countries where our products are sold.
"We expanded our line of KRAFT Mac & Cheese (KMC) offerings. We know some people prefer foods without certain ingredients — we now offer a multitude of products without added colors, as well as products with natural food colors including [14 different products]."
