Study warns of chems in cheese products
There’s good reason to have the blue box blues. And not because you’re craving Kraft macaroni and cheese, as an old commercial for the brand suggests. There may be harmful chemicals in your boxed mac mix. Lab tests revealed that toxic industrial chemicals called phthalates are found in 10 varieties of macaroni and cheese, including eight out of nine Kraft products, new research shows.
These phthalates are hormonedisrupting chemicals that could cause reproductive and thyroid issues, as well as neurological problems in kids and unborn babies.
That’s bad news for tots, poor college students and anyone else who loves the cheesy goodness.
The Coalition for Safer Food Processing & Packaging believes the federal government should regulate and prohibit these chemicals, but coalition member Peter Lehner said in a statement that “Trump’s Food and Drug Administration has yet to act.”
So the coalition now looks to Kraft Heinz, makers of the classic blue box Kraft mac and cheese, to remove phthalates from its food. The Coalition says that in addition to Kraft having the largest market for powdered cheese in the industry, the company has also taken action in the past to make its foods safer based on scientific and consumer concerns. “We do not add phthalates to our products,” Kraft Heinz maintains in a statement. “The trace amounts that were reported in this limited study are more than 1,000 times lower than levels that scientific authorities have identified as acceptable. Our products are safe for consumers to enjoy.”
Out of all 30 cheese products tested — 10 cheese powders, five sliced cheeses and 15 natural cheese samples — 29 of them had phthalates. Powdered mac and cheese products had the highest amount of phthalates of all the forms of cheese tested.
These chemicals aren’t knowingly added into foods, they’re accidental add-ins from contact materials during preparation, processing and packing. Regulating the infiltration of food happens by making sure safer food processing and packaging methods are in place.
Our understanding of these chemicals has advanced in recent years. A 2014 study found that dairy products were the largest contributor to phthalate exposure through diet. Even more recently, the European Union took action to ban the chemicals in food contact materials.
“Parents and their children,” Lehner said, “should not have to wait longer to know that their food does not contain toxic chemicals. We are asking manufacturers to act now.”