It’s orange, it’s gooey, and kids love it. However, lurking in every bowl of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese are two artificial colors, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, that have been found to have detrimental effects, especially on children.
Yellow 5, also known as tartrazine, has been linked to allergic reactions, some of which are quite severe, including asthma, skin rashes and migraines. It has also been associated with triggering hyperactivity and other behavioral disorders in children, including ADHD.
Yellow 6, also known as sunset yellow, has also been linked to sometimes-severe allergic reactions that are similar to those found with Yellow 5, including asthma, skin rashes and migraines. It has also been linked to triggering the same hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children. Furthermore, Yellow 6 has been linked to causing adrenal tumors in lab animals.
For this reason, concerned citizens Vani Hari and Lisa Leake of Charlotte, North Carolina have started a petition on Change.org to pressure Kraft into removing these two artificial colorings from their Macaroni and Cheese product. The petition is currently available on Change.org, and is looking for signatures.
Due to the dangers of Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, Kraft does not use these ingredients in their Macaroni and Cheese products in other countries, including the United Kingdom. Hari and Leake stress that if Kraft can avoid these ingredients overseas, it can do the same here in America.
However, even if the petition is successful and Kraft does remove these artificial colorings from their product, boxed macaroni and cheese is still not a healthy option to be feeding to our children.
The first ingredient is enriched wheat flour. Enriched flours have had all of the nutrients stripped away during processing. These nutrients are then added back into the flour in artificial form. The body does not easily recognize or absorb synthetic nutrients.
For a healthy, cheesy dinner option that kids will love, try peeling and shredding zucchini or butternut squash into long, thin strips, and top with melted, organic cheddar cheese. If you must have the noodles, try soba noodles, which are made from protein-rich buckwheat, or black bean spaghetti. Your kids will likely develop a taste for any of these healthy options very quickly, especially if they are topped with delicious, organic cheese.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), U.S. food manufacturers add about 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into their products each year. Parents need to take a stand against this practice, and stop feeding these these chemicals to their children.
-The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://www.change.org/petitions/kraft-stop-using-dangerous-food-dyes-in-our-mac-cheese
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/24/are-you-or-your-family-eating-toxic-food-dyes.aspx
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/enriched-white-flour/
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/23/healthy-pasta-alternatives_n_1539953.html
