Kraft Attacked for Yellow Dyes

When my 9-year-old granddaughter Jessica came for a sleep-over visit, within 2 days, she nuked two batches of Kraft macaroni and cheese ("cheesy made easy") for her mid-day snacks. The young chef added water and cooked the macaroni for 3.5 minutes, and stirred in the powdered cheese, as directed.  I admired her kitchen know-how and independence.  Imagine my dismay when, a few days later, ABC  News and the Chicago Tribune reported a bloggers' campaign urging Kraft to stop using artificial yellow dyes #5 and #6 in its mac and cheese products.  Europeans don't allow it, they said, so why should we? 

Food bloggers Lisa Leake (of 100 Days of Real food) and Vani Hari (from the blog Food Babe) used the advocacy website Change.org to promote their petition.  On April 1, Advertising Age (adage.com) reported that Ms. Hari conducted a taste test of the UK and American versions of Kraft macaroni and cheese (called Cheesey Pasta in the UK). Most responders noted no taste difference, whether the product was made with natural or artificial dyes, which, says food scientist Dr. Joe Regenstein, "is not surprising as neither types of dyes should provide flavor." Ms. Hari has delivered to Kraft's suburban Chicago headquarters more than 270,000 signatures requesting the removal of artificial yellow dyes from the product.  Dr. Regenstein points out two important matters missing from the testing: "The test should have been about color, not taste, and the costs of the products should have been compared."

Why are the bloggers so upset about the artificial dyes? Advertising Age quotes them as claiming that the dyes are "contaminated with known carcinogens" and "can cause an increase in hyperactivity in children." Hari and Leake also allege that the dyes have been linked to asthma, skin rashes, and migraine headaches, according to Food Navigator.

However, after discussing the petition with the bloggers on April 2, Kraft says that it's satisfied that the dyes are both safe and legal. Kraft points out that these dyes have been pronounced safe by both the USFDA and the EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority). At this time, Kraft has no plans to discontinue the use of the artificial dyes, although the company is looking for natural alternatives that would not have to be used in amounts large enough to affect the taste. Kraft has also pointed out that some of its mac and cheese products (including, of course, the organic version) do not contain artificial dyes, so consumers wishing to avoid the artificial dyes could purchase those.

Since mac and cheese is an ever-popular comfort food with kids and adults, whether it's safe or not is of some significance. Therefore, I decided to look further into this story and ask our Advisory Board scientists to respond to it. 

My research began with a search of my kitchen cabinet.  Jessica had left me one round box of macaroni and cheese, and a perusal of the ingredients turned up--yep--the 2 yellow dyes under attack.  However, my rectangular box labeled "macaroni and chees deluxe, taste of rich and creamy sharp cheddar cheese sauce" did not contain these dyes.  Instead, the ingredients list said "oleoresin paprika [color]." My husband made some of this product, and the color looked just fine.  (According to ABC, the natural color comes from beta carotene and paprika).  

Food scientist Dr. Karin Allen explained that natural dyes are more likely to be found in the more expensive mac and cheese products.  "The artificial dyes are much cheaper than the natural ones, such as paprika and tumeric." 

The above information could lead to logical arguments on either side of the yellow dye debate:

For the status quo:  As long as Kraft has some products that don't contain the artificial dyes for consumers who want to avoid them, why should the company remove the dye from all its mac-and-cheese items?

For change:  If a nice orange color can be obtained without artificial dyes, why use artificial ingredients?  Food scientist Dr. Timothy Bowser's comment supports this point of view: "I don’t know if the artificial dyes are harmful or not, but why include them if they are not really needed?"

The bigger question: Do these artificial dyes pose any risk to human health? Here's what we learned: yes, artificial dyes are made with coal tar and petroleum. Nevertheless, the FDA states that there is no good evidence that they're harmful. If that's true, why doesn't Kraft use artificial dyes in its European products?  The simple answer is that, if the company wants to sell macaroni and cheese to countries in the European Union, it needs to follow the regulations stipulated by the EU.  So should we conclude that the EU is more protective of the consumers' health than is the U.S.?  Here's how two food scientists on our site's Advisory Board respond to that accusation:

Dr. Clair Hicks:  "So as far as yellow #5 and #6 go, I have no problem with their use in foods as long as we do not see good data that suggest they are causing a problem. I personally think the FDA manages these types of things quite well compared to the rest of the world.  I would much rather live under the FDA rules than the EU rules.

The FDA says that we do not use human data in making approval decisions, but this is just not true.  We do the animal studies and wait and watch the rest of the world.  Many countries adopt new ingredients such as colors or whatever.  If  no problems with them show up in these populations, then the FDA finally gets around to adopting the technology necessary in order to eventually make the item GRAS ["generally recognized as safe," FDA wording] .  I personally think our slow methods work quite well and often protect the consumer even more than they like being protected."

Dr. Joe Regenstein:  "The coal tar dyes receive a lot more testing than almost any other ingredients. The resulting dyes are officially classified as “color additives” and have to pass the highest barrier to acceptances. Foods and GRAS compounds have a lower barrier." 

As to the accusation that these dyes may cause hyperactivity, the FDA response is as follows: "Although this hypothesis was popularized in the 1970's, results from studies on this issue either have been inconclusive, inconsistent, or difficult to interpret due to inadequacies in study design."

You might be wondering why Kraft has not capitulated (it has not as of April 2) and switched to using all natural dyes in its various mac and cheese products. Well, the company knows that how foods look affects how they taste. Evidently, Kraft is convinced that the artificial dyes make the food more appealing.  The expectation that it's going to taste good heightens the dining experience.  Also, Dr. Regenstein points out, "This is a very low-cost food; increasing the cost could hurt sales and deprive low-income kids of a food that may be better for them than alternatives."

We asked Dr. Regenstein for his opinion about consumer advocacy groups that campaign for or against certain food ingredients.  We asked if he considered these campaigns good or bad for consumers and the food industry.  Here's what he said:  "They're bad for the food industry and for the consumer when they are not based on science but rather on all kinds of half-truths.  Science needs to have some place in consumer thinking. Furthermore, the food industry needs to monitor ALL ingredients and foods to be sure they are safer regardless of where in the world they are being sold."

Dr. Bowser believes these groups can be useful:  "I think they might be good for the industry because they increase awareness and give industry the opportunity to respond positively and in a manner that can actually increase customer trust and sales."

Source(s):

Karin E. Allen, Ph.D., Utah State University, Dept. of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

Timothy J. Bowser, Ph.D. , Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Clair L. Hicks, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Dept. of Animal and Food Sciences

Joe Regenstein, Ph.D., Cornell University, Dept. of Food Science

adage.com "'Food Babe' Takes Fight Against Kraft to Streets of Chicago"

http://adage.com/article/news/food-blogger-escalates-battle-kraft-food-dyes/240654/

abcnews.go.com "Mom to Kraft: Take Yellow Dye Out of Mac and Cheese"

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mom-bloggers-yellow-dye-kraft-maccheese/story?id=18668692#.UVsuar9Q0yE

CBS News "Food bloggers start petition to drop yellow dyes from Kraft Mac & Cheese"

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57573286/food-bloggers-start-petition-to-drop-yellow-dyes-from-kraft-mac-cheese/

fda.gov "Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives and Colors"

http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm094211.htm - types