Kraft foods bows to growing pressure, shifts product line away from controversial ingredients

Illinois food giant unveils plan to remove dyes and preservatives from Macaroni & Cheese and other offerings of its international product line.

NEW YORK – On the heels of pressure from growing public outcry, the manufacturers of the widely beloved homemade fast food product Kraft Macaroni & Cheese have pledged to remove all synthetic colors and artificial preservatives from the easy-boil children’s delicacy by the end of 2015.

Spokespeople for Kraft Foods have said that the Northfield, Illinois-based food giant has been involved in a lengthy effort to create a replacement recipe which would be free of these additives, working throughout the process to ensure that the revised product is as close to the original recipe as possible.

“We weren’t ready to change the product until we were confident that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese tastes like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese,” the company shared in a statement.

In the updated recipe set for shipment and sale starting from January 2016, Kraft has said that their Mac & Cheese will instead be colored by paprika, annatto and turmeric.

The U.S. has seen a trend of processed foods falling out of favor in during the 2010s. In spring 2013, a petition specifically targeting the use of dyes in Kraft Mac & Cheese was issued by Change.org’s Vani Hari and garnered more than 365,000 signatures of support.

Amidst the recent statement of their intention to make the shift away from their original dye-and-preservative-imbued recipe, Kraft has further stated that their Mac & Cheese mainstay’s Canadian equivalent, known north of the border as Kraft Dinner Original, will follow suit alongside the U.S. version by the end of 2016.

Also in cooperation with the movement away from artificial dyes and preservatives, the company has already begun the sale of Kraft Mac & Cheese Boxed Shapes, which are free of either of the controversial ingredients. Additional offerings from the Kraft product line, including Original Cups, Easy Mac, Premium Flavors, and Shapes Cups, will begin manufacture and sale under a similarly updated recipe by the end of 2016.