Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - Response on Color

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Put Brussel Sprouts in front of your kid three nights a week , then tell me when they cleaned their plate.

That is the one and only battle/war that I fought with my Dad and won. I tried them a couple times and decided they weren't for me.

I can't stand Brussels Sprouts...never have and never will.

But to be truthful, I used to not like Broccoli either and now can stomach in Asian food...but that's about it.

I use real cheese when making Mac & Cheese, but the clean up is always a pain.

That powdered stuff always seemed unnatural.

Originally posted by AnonymousCitizen
Recently, Kraft has been taking some heat from "mommy bloggers" on the use of artificial colors in the Macaroni & Cheese products. As a response, they say this:

Response on Color

As for colors, we look to regulators for guidance. The artificial colors allowed in foods in the U.S., including the Yellow #5 and #6 used in some KRAFT Mac & Cheese varieties, are some of the most well-studied ingredients. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed them safe for use in food. Other experts, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have reached a similar conclusion. Scientific consensus on safety is very important when we look at what ingredients to use. Here's what both the FDA and EFSA have to say on colors.

They also claim to sell 14 varieties without artificial colors.

My question is that if there are safer alternative, why use these chemicals in ANY of their products?

The alternatives might be more costly. You also have to remember they are a business and their goal is to sell their product, and they may believe it appears more appetizing to the consumer if they used artificial coloring rather than substituting with natural ingredients.

Personally, I have nothing against artificial food-coloring as it not much of a problem to an individual's health, and seeing as they have 14 other varieties without artificial coloring, I fail to see what exactly the problem is here.

reply to post by chrismarco




It might not be worth it.

Those pricey “natural” and “organic” hot dogs often contain just as much or more of the cancer-linked preservatives nitrate and nitrite as that old-fashioned Oscar Mayer wiener.

“If you actually surveyed consumers going out of their way to buy no-nitrate products, they’d be very surprised to learn that there’s plenty of nitrates in there,”

reply to post by chrismarco


Sometimes the chemical they replace the nitrate with is worse. Xanthine oxidase breaks down nitrites. It uses molybdenum to detox. If nitrites bother you, try taking a molybdenum pill before eating the dog. That chemical that the government says must be in lunchmeats, Sodium Erythrobate, just causes the nitrates in the meat to turn to nitrites so so much doesn't have to be added. What a waste of money, it doesn't solve the problem. It is just a way to make people think it's better for you. It also adds more cost and more chance of something going wrong.

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty
reply to post by hp1229

 

I stopped the moment I found out that it was loaded with artificial ingredients.

You must shop Organic?
So help me out give me a menu of your meals that have No Artifical ingredents.

I am not a health fanatic/nut nor can we avoid consuming ingredients that are beyond our control such as fertilizers and insecticides used by the agriculture and farming industries. We try our best to avoid as much of the additives and ingredients as possible from consumption. We do not shop everything organic (eggs and milk are organic in addition to few veggies, poultry and fish) but we definitely cook a lot (instead of ready to eat meals or items like mac and cheese). We are not big consumers of snacks either (potato chips, nachos, cheetos etc etc). We do purchase from individual farmer/farm markets. We grow our own veggies (using imported seeds from different countries and not use the GMO seeds sold commercially) during summer (i use natural horse or cow manure and do not spray any preventive chemicals). The veggies grow just fine and are full of natural flavors (ofcourse they're not as perfect looking or colorful and tasteless as the hybrid veggies displayed on the supermarket shelves ) We throw them on the grill or use it for soups and stews. Fresh from scratch home made bread, pasta, soups, stews, cakes, ice cream etc etc are just few items on the menu in addition to many

Originally posted by TDawgRex

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Put Brussel Sprouts in front of your kid three nights a week , then tell me when they cleaned their plate.

That is the one and only battle/war that I fought with my Dad and won.

I tried them a couple times and decided they weren't for me.

I can't stand Brussels Sprouts...never have and never will.

But to be truthful, I used to not like Broccoli either and now can stomach in Asian food...but that's about it.

I use real cheese when making Mac & Cheese, but the clean up is always a pain.

That powdered stuff always seemed unnatural.

LOL When I was young I called them little turd balls.

I have treid real cheese too kid's looked like this.


I read some articals about why young kids act like this. Most said that at that age the food they eat is the only thing they have full control over.

Originally posted by hp1229

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty
reply to post by hp1229

 

I stopped the moment I found out that it was loaded with artificial ingredients.

You must shop Organic?
So help me out give me a menu of your meals that have No Artifical ingredents.

I am not a health fanatic/nut nor can we avoid consuming ingredients that are beyond our control such as fertilizers and insecticides used by the agriculture and farming industries. We try our best to avoid as much of the additives and ingredients as possible from consumption. We do not shop everything organic (eggs and milk are organic in addition to few veggies, poultry and fish) but we definitely cook a lot to eat me(instead of ready
meals or items like mac and cheese). We are not big consumers of snacks either (potato chips, nachos, cheetos etc etc). We do purchase from individual farmer/farm markets. We grow our own veggies (using imported seeds from different countries and not use the GMO seeds sold commercially) during summer (i use natural horse or cow manure and do not spray any preventive chemicals). The veggies grow just fine and are full of natural flavors (ofcourse they're not as perfect looking or colorful and tasteless as the hybrid veggies displayed on the supermarket shelves

) We throw them on the grill or use it for soups and stews. Fresh from scratch home made bread, pasta, soups, stews, cakes, ice cream etc etc are just few items on the menu in addition to many

edit on 22-3-2013 by hp1229 because: (no reason given)

edit on 22-3-2013 by hp1229 because: (no reason given)

(instead of ready
meals or items like mac and cheese

Mac and Cheese is a side dish.

We grow our own veggies (using imported seeds from different countries and not use the GMO seeds sold commercially) during summer (i use natural horse or cow manure and do not spray any preventive chemicals).

Since you didn't mention canning any of your veggies, I guess they get this about 1 or 2 months a year.

Our family does have a large garden, and have as long as I can remember. We can a lot of our food. Give it a try it;s not really that hard.

BTW we do live on a farm, don't believe anything a( farmer?) tell's you at the farmers market, many (not all) of those people buy produce wholsale, then go there to sell it.

reply to post by rockymcgilicutty
Thanks for the clarification. So it is a side dish
I do freeze the veggies in a ziploc bag but do not can them One of these days once the kids are grown up, i'll get into canning. True. I do not believe every single farmer selling their veggies claiming that they are 100% naturally cultivated but the point is to cook fresh meals on a daily basis.

reply to post by hp1229


I think you might have thought I was trying to be a jerk. If so sorry.

Really the canning is good to get kids into young, the see they are a part of it all. My kind's started to ask for stuff they canned because they knew they were a part of the process, and took pride in it.

reply to post by AnonymousCitizen


The answer to your question is very simple... because it's cheaper

All the calls for natural colorings always make me smile.
A brilliant color red has a very good natural source. Bugs.
It's called cochineal. While I have seen it listed as an ingredient, usually it is presented as "natural color".
So color, if you want it, is subjective.
In my own cooking I do not color anything. I make a strawberry cream pie and depending on the variety of berry being sold it comes out everything from a medium pretty pink to white, but it all tastes about the same.
But I do buy yellow cheddar, Colby, and even the occasional Velveeta. What can I say? I'm an American.

reply to post by rockymcgilicutty


Well yes and no. That works if your kids aren't that picky. As a child, I was extremely sensitive to bitter tastes, as are some children. That approach did not work for my parents.
I could tell the difference when my mom used vegetable juice instead of meat juice in her gravy. I had to know exactly what was in everything I ate and would meticulously pick out anything I didn't like.
Plus there was anxiety about eating things I didn't like.
I eat a lot of veggies now, but certain ones still turn my stomach. My husband can't taste the difference between red and green peppers, but I can with my eyes closed.

However, now that we know better, there is no reason to put coloured dyes in our food. Though, I have always liked red-flavoured.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by rockymcgilicutty

 

Who gave them the impression that brussel sprouts werent good in the first place?It comes from outside influences.

Nope. Always hated brussel sprouts. Always hated liver. I now like asparagus and can tolerate spinach and other greens. But those two? Sucked when I was a kid, and still suck. Didn't need Ronald McDonald to tell me so, either. As far as the thread goes? I don't eat KD...always creeped me out.

remarkable. The replies suggesting "alternatives" are stupefying when the RIGHT question is actually asked. Go back and look at what Kraft does with the correct question in mind:

Why do consumers of Kraft M&C products feel that the cardboard boxed artificial food product must be the Orange "cheddar color" in order for the average consumer to even consider buying it?

Kraft puts the extra chemical in it because people won't buy it if has a unatural-natural color. So the question is, what is wrong with the consumer that creates this "buying" conflict if the artificial color is removed? Why are consumers so hooked on the way "something should be" that, when an alternative free of chemicals is offered, they get confused or even angry?

Why is the debate about who has the best scientific study about the chemicals included, as that isn't the point, the point is why does an apple have to have wax on it for a consumer to buy it, why does cheese have to be "yellow" if it is supposed to be cheddar and so on.

Why are American shoppers so mind controlled over how things are marketed that they internalize the MARKETING as fact, as food, as nutrition, and simply ignore the inclusion of highly toxic, cheap - often chemical waste products in their food. This happens because the Madison Avenue Hacks developed a marketing "yellow cheddar" gimmick to lure them into eating Pepridge Farm Fish because test studies showed the natural color as cheap, tasteless, and even offensive.

Why is the population so dumb?????????????

You hit the nail on the head crankyoldman! Much of our population is so brainwashed by these companies over so many years to think that their processed, boxed crap is what food should be, look and taste like. I've often wondered if the artificial junk they put in it has added to this brainwashing of the masses.

I was raised on it myself, as was my Mother. When one of my brothers had a lot of 'issues' with ADHD and other behavioral problems a Dr. suggested she alter his diet to a more natural and additive free one to see if that made a difference. Almost every person she talked to about this suggestion scoffed at it and made the Dr out to be a quack. She did it anyway and we all saw a drastic change for the better in my once out of control brother.
That's when she decided that she should be feeding us all this way and started learning more about what goes in all the processed foods that are so readily available and easy to prepare. We of course did not like it as we wanted our usual foods like boxed mac n cheese and such.
I thank my lucky stars that she was not a Mother who just gave in to her complaining children who often threw fits and refused to eat what was on the table, sometimes going to bed hungry. It didn't take long for us to realize that she was serious and if we didn't eat the healthy foods she made us then we were going to go to bed hungry more often than we liked. Soon enough we were all eating whatever she cooked every day and not complaining but learning to like it and even being more curious when she was in the kitchen so much longer than she used to be. This helped to open the door for more conversations about foods, the importance of healthy choices and us wanting to help her out as we were quite curious about all the different things in our pantry and fridge.
I am forever grateful that she took a stand, listening to the voice of that one Dr instead of EVERYONE else and made the choice to feed her children healthful, wholesome, natural foods. I fully believe that that one change is the reason that when all our friends were getting sick all the time, being lazy and filling up on medications we were healthy, thriving happy children who didn't have to go the Dr all the time because our Mother was feeding us properly.
I took that lesson and vowed to feed my child the same way. I never had problems with her refusing to eat or wanting all the processed crap we saw other people eating. That's because I started from the beginning feeding her healthy, natural foods, sure she saw it on TV but the occasional trip to Mc Donalds every now and then was good enough for her. Of course there were things she didn't like, even hated but I went out of my way to expose her to a wide variety of what nature has to offer and taught her the difference between processed and natural foods and what they did to the body as well as the environment.
Everyone is different and I will admit that I was blessed with a not all that picky eater but if you start out the right way you are cutting your battle by more than half.
As for the added cost, yes, these days it is more expensive to eat natural foods especially if you don't have the luxury of being able to have a garden. My husband often complains about the cost so I just tell him this " You can pay a little more now, at the grocery store or you can buy the cheaper chemical and additive filled foods and bet on paying much more in Dr bills later."

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty
reply to post by hp1229

 

I think you might have thought I was trying to be a jerk. If so sorry.

Really the canning is good to get kids into young, the see they are a part of it all. My kind's started to ask for stuff they canned because they knew they were a part of the process, and took pride in it.

Not a problem I never felt you were being a jerk

I do agree that involving them at a young age is the key. I do involve my daughter for now in pretty much all the routines and chores around the house (cooking, cleaning, repair works, laundry etc etc). She is more interested with repairing and tooling which ticks off my wife as she wants her to be all girly But I try my best to keep her interest in pretty much anyting that we do around the house and outdoor activities. I even got into planting vegetables last year. I personally prefer to preserve in a glass jar instead of metal cans but lets see I will get into it soon.

Kraft "Macaroni & Cheese" is nothing but one big box of chemicals. It's almost comical that "mommy bloggers" would pick out the food coloring as the thing to complain about. If you don't want your kids eating garbage, then make it from scratch with fresh items.

my 2-cents

reply to post by Zarniwoop


ugghhh...thanks

reply to post by chrismarco


You bet

I didn't even realize it until I read this thread.

reply to post by Zarniwoop


Along with all of these good things people are saying - my 2 cents - I hope everyone is using butter and not using "margarine".

Also, look into coconut oil - instead of others - olive oil is good.

I'm 50 years old - remember the big vats of crisco lard? and Tang? OMG