Bloggers Join Forces To Make Kraft Ditch Artificial Dyes

Check it out:

On FoodBabe’s blog post, she’s got the articles and the key talking points for the clip:

Artificial food dyes…

• Are man-made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum (a crude oil product, which also happens to be used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar).
• Require a warning label in other countries outside the US.
• Have been banned in countries like Norway and Austria (and are being phased out in the UK).
• Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 specifically are contaminated with known carcinogens (a.k.a. an agent directly involved in causing cancer).
• Cause an increase in hyperactivity in children.
• Have a negative impact on children’s ability to learn.
• Have been linked to long-term health problems such as asthma, skin rashes, and migraines.
• Add absolutely no nutritional value to the foods we are eating and are used solely for aesthetic purposes.

ABC News’ blog has more information:

Lisa Leake’s children used to love the taste of Kraft’s Mac & Cheese, the bright orange pasta that comes in the signature blue box. But she began to worry about the additives — yellow dye 5 and yellow dye 6, which she says add nothing to the flavor and may be dangerous to kids’ health.

Leake and fellow North Carolina food blogger Vani Hari did some investigating and found that Kraft makes the same Mac & Cheese for its consumers in the United Kingdom, but because of stricter rules regarding additives, it is dye-free.

There, Kraft uses natural beta carotene and paprika to make it almost the same color.

Leake and Hari say the yellow dye serves only “aesthetic purposes.” They say they worry that food colorings have been associated with hyperactivity in children, allergies, migraine and, because yellow dyes are petroleum-based, maybe cancer.

Now the two women have posted a petition on Change.org, asking Kraft to offer Americans the same additive-free Mac & Cheese they sell in Europe. So far, the petition has 25,000 signatures and growing.

Leake, 35, and Hari, 33, taste-tested the two versions of Mac & Cheese and posted it on YouTube. They said they found “virtually no difference” in color or taste.

Leake said her children actually liked the U.K. version better.

I’ve got $5 to the first person who can identify what my first thought was regarding this.

One more excerpt, though:

Kraft spokesperson Lynne Galia responded to ABCNews.com in an email, saying that, “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,” she said. “So in the U.S., we only use colors that are approved and deemed safe for food use by the Food and Drug Administration.”

Knowing that some Americans “prefer foods without certain ingredients,” Kraft said it provides at least 14 other Mac & Cheese products without added colors and with natural food colors.

The yellow dyes have been banned in countries like Norway and Austria and are being phased out in the United Kingdom, according to the petition.

Again. Who’s surprised by this? “We’re doing what the FDA allows us to do, as cheaply as possible.” Also… who expects the FDA to legitimately regulate any food additive? Seriously?

Seriously?

No, seriously – I can’t stop laughing. I just… I can’t.

What do you think?