Did You Even Notice Your Kraft Mac & Cheese Has No Artificial Ingredients?

[Omaha Steve]

The company behind the 'iconic Blue Box' crows about putting one over on consumers.




http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/03/08/kraft-mac-and-cheese-artificial-ingredients?cmpid=tpfood-eml-2016-03-12-Kraft


MAR 8, 2016 Jason Best is a regular contributor to TakePart who has worked for Gourmet and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

You’ve got to hand it to the PR wizards at giant food maker Kraft Heinz: It takes a bit of audacity to tell an entire country, “You’ve been duped!,” and spin it as a good thing.

Last year, following mounting feedback from consumers and critics alike, the maker of the world’s top-selling macaroni and cheese said that it would remove all artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes from what it calls its “iconic Blue Box.” And it did—only it didn’t tell consumers. Instead, the company conducted what it is now billing as “the largest blind taste test in history.” It started selling its Blue Box mac and cheese sans the artificial ingredients in December, but instead of hyping the bejesus out of the historic change, it simply updated the tiny type on the ingredient list and waited to see if consumers would notice the difference. More than 50 million boxes later, apparently no one has.

“As we considered changing the ingredients of our classic Blue Box, we did so knowing we had to maintain our iconic look, taste and texture,” Greg Guidotti, vice president of meals at Kraft Heinz, said in a statement. “We’d invite Americans to try our new recipe, but they most likely already have.” The most noticeable change—or unnoticeable, I guess—is Kraft Heinz’s move to replace the artificial yellow dyes that gave the Blue Box product its signature synthetic cheesy glow with paprika, annatto, and turmeric.

To be sure, the company’s say-nothing-and-see-if-they-notice strategy is arguably only radical at its 50-million-box scale. After all, parents have long essentially played the same trick on their kids, trying to sneak better-for-you ingredients past the picky palates of unsuspecting toddlers. But it points to the conundrum big food companies face as they try to satisfy growing consumer demand for foods perceived as more natural while at the same time protecting the market share of established brands worth billions of dollars. Just as a kid might eat artfully disguised veggies one day and throw a tantrum over the same food the next, things do not always go smoothly.

FULL story at link.

[Scootaloo]

1. I haven't eaten it since grade school

Any mac and cheese that doesn't include blue cheese and have a nice crust on top isn't worth my time.'

/foodsnob

[malaise]

2. We don't buy processed food

We make Mac and cheese from scratch.

[linuxman]

7. You mill your own semolina flour and make your own cheese?

That sounds tedious.

[malaise]

8. Hahahahahahha

[linuxman]

9. .

"If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe"-Carl Sagan

[malaise]

13. But I make all my pastry and filling

[Armymedic88]

3. We did notice a difference but weren't real sure what it was...

[Merryland]

4. That's a good thing to know

since my kids pretty much grew up on it...

[Buns_of_Fire]

5. Damn them, anyway. I NEED my daily dose of artificial ingredients! nt

[Scurrilous]

6. Twenty-nine cents a box when I was in college (pre-Ramen days).

I lived on that @#$%. That and beer.

[linuxman]

10. I'm pretty sure it's still like 50 cents a box.

Love it. Slice in hotdogs for a whole new experience.

[PufPuf23]

11. Being old and poor, county social services gives me a bag of canned and other foods

the 2nd Thursday of each month as well as what is referred to as CalFresh (this month mushrooms, carrots, onions, artichokes, potatoes, parsnips, oranges, broccoli, kale, apples, turnips, beets).

One monthly item since I started in 2015 is a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese.

Not that big a fan of processed food, I have 8 boxes in the pantry (and also seem to be building an Armageddon stash of canned green beans and canned chicken).

Just checked and all are the old version with yellow dyes. They are dated with best used by dates and the box from last Thursday was best used by January 16, 2016. All others have 2015 dates. They differ from the package image above in that they have a spoon rather than a fork.

The box from last Thursday is dated best if used by January 16, 2016.

Good for Kraft though this does sound like an Onion article or a prank.

I will watch. lol

[Iggo]

12. I assumed Kraft Mac & Cheese with no artificial ingredients would just be an empty box.

[AwakeAtLast]

14. I noticed

It's not as shocking orange as it used to be.