Kraft Using Food Additives Linked to Cancer

Every family’s favorite Mac & Cheese might be harming our children. Two food dyes - yellow 5 and yellow 6 - only used in the U.S. have been linked to asthma and cancer in children.

And now Kraft is under pressure to ban the dyes from its products. More than 45,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org called ‘Kraft: Stop Using Dangerous Food Dyes in Our Mac & Cheese.’

The dyes contain benzidine 4-amino-buphenyl, which is a derivative of petroleum. Yellow 5 and yellow 6 are only used for esthetic, but the side effects can be causing harm.

Spokesperson for Kraft responded to the petition by saying: ‘We carefully follow the laws and regulations in the countries where our products are sold. So in the U.S., we only use colors that are approved and deemed safe for food use by the Food and Drug Administration.’

There maybe some truth to that. Currently FDA has approved a number of artificial colorings, yellow 5 and yellow 6, among others. However, a recent study conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest titled ‘Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks’ cites the danger of ingesting artificial food colorings.
Michael F. Jacobson, who co-wrote the study said: ‘The Food and Drug Administration should ban dyes, which would force industry to color foods with real food ingredients, not toxic petrochemicals.’

How often do you eat Mac & Cheese at home? Leave us your comments below.