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

Food bloggers Lisa Leake (left) and Vani Hari (right) are petitioning Kraft Foods to drop Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6 from Macaroni and Cheese products. / Change.org

Are the colored additives used in Kraft's popular Macaroni & Cheese products dangerous?

That's what two food bloggers are alleging in their petition to Kraft Foods to remove Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6 from the blue-boxed pantry staples.

Yellow Nos. 5 and 6 are used to color beverages, dessert powders, candy, ice cream, custards and other foods.

Vani Hari, from the blog Food Babe, and Lisa Leake, from 100 Days of Real Food, have taken to Change.org to petition Kraft's management to remove the dyes, saying they may potentially cause health problems and are not included in Kraft's Mac & Cheese products sold in the United Kingdom.

"Kraft reformulated their product for the UK, but not for their fellow American citizens," they argued.

They recorded a YouTube video taste test of both U.S. and U.K. versions of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (called Cheesey Pasta across the pond) and found "virtually no difference in color or taste" -- so they are asking why these additives are being used if they've been linked to health risks.

On the 100 Days of Real Food blog, Hari posted side-by-side lists of ingredients found in certain food products in the United States versus those found in the United Kingdom across several brands.

At press time, the petition had nearly 135,000 signatures.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, has been petitioning to ban food dyes in the U.S. for years.

In a 2010 report called Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks, the CSPI says Yellow Nos. 5 and 6 can cause hypersensitivity, or allergic reactions, and contains carcinogens called Benzidine and 4-amino-biphenyl. Some studies reported hyperactivity in children associated with Yellow 5 intake or genotoxicity -- or damage to cellular DNA -- says CSPI.

Yellow 5 is the most widely used food dye after Red 40, according to CSPI. The organization included case reports of four people who had dangerous reactions linked to Yellow 5.

"Since Yellow 5 poses some risks, has not been adequately tested in mice, and is a cosmetic ingredient that serves no nutritional or safety purpose, it should not be allowed in the food supply," the CSPI included.

Yellow 6 was linked to three case reports of hypersensitive reactions, according CSPI. Studies of cancer in rats have been inconclusive, with some findings of tumors, but the Food and Drug Administration concluded they were not related to Yellow 6, CSPI said.

The FDA is responsible for regulating all color additives in foods to ensure they are safe to eat, contain only approved ingredients and they are accurately labeled, the agency says on its website.

The FDA notes that in 1986, its Committee on Hypersensitivity to Food Constituents concluded there was no evidence the additive causes asthma attacks, though it may cause hives in fewer than one out of 10,000 people. Because of that, Yellow 5 is required by law to be identified on the ingredient line, so the few who may be sensitive could avoid it.

"The safety and quality of our products is our highest priority and we take consumer concerns very seriously," Kraft Foods Corporate Affairs spokesperson Lynne Galia said in an emailed statement to CBSNews.com. "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."

Galia also referenced the International Food Information Council Foundation, a non-profit research group that notes there is insufficient evidence for a causal relationship between food color consumption and hyperactivity.

Galia added that some customers prefer foods without certain ingredients, and Kraft offers 14 products without added colors and those with natural food colors, including Kraft Mac & Cheese Organic Cheddar and some Homestyle varieties.

The petitioners also received a similar response from Galia, and commended the company for even responding. But they said Kraft is still missing the "bigger issue," because 30 of the Mac & Cheese products still contain the additives. They say that's unfair to children and uneducated consumers.

"If Kraft's 'safety and quality' of their products is their "highest priority" and they "take consumer concerns very seriously,' then why have they continued to use a questionable ingredient that requires a warning label in Europe?" they wrote March 6th.

An increasing number of petitioners have taken on food companies with help of the Internet. A Change.org petition in January gained over 200,000 signatures to remove brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, from PepsiCo's Gatorade, the Associated Press reported. BVO is a flame retardant that's banned in Japan and the European Union, the petition noted. The company agreed to remove the ingredient following the response.

Social media backlash that started on the vegan food blog thisdishisvegetarian.com last March and resulted in a Change.org petition called for Starbucks to stop using cochineal extract to dye its strawberry Frappuccinos. The FDA said the dye was safe, but consumers complained because the dye's made from crushed-up beetles and Starbucks said it would phase out the extract.

[mokimmie68]

Well, considering the fact that the United States of America allows companies like Kraft, Coca Cola, Pepsi...need I go on? Sell products here that have more ingredients that the other Governments won't even allow to be sold in their countries because of the harm it does to your body. Aspartame, have you don't the research. Have you literally done the research on the dyes in food. I have a friend whose two youngest children have food allergies to those with the Red and Yellow dyes. You know those kids at the grocery store that throw temper tantrums...yeah when she allows them to eat those foods they act like that. Concentration issues in school and all the children that are diagnosed with ADD and ADHD...Autism...look at their diets. Look at what they are eating and drinking and see what they are actually putting in their bodies. I'm not a stay at home rich woman like you all put it towards these two women. Just wake up people and look at your kids, your neighbors kids. Do you like milk? Does your kids have dark circles under their eyes all are tired all the time. Take them off the milk from the grocery store. Buy whole milk from the Amish or switch to Almond milk...Do it for a month. Then look at your kids face. You WILL NOTICE the difference. Instead of being a hater, do the research life 100 days With Real Food and see how you feel. Maybe if we all would, the world and this great USOFA will be healthier. Buying more of the organic foods, the price would come down. DUH!

[Inie_20]

First and foremost....I want to thank these educated consumers for coming forward on a problem that is affecting millions of people(our children) in this country. When I first heard about this on CNN, as I was driving my children to school, I was shocked. The Kraft company has been around forever and I always thought that their products were safe. Yes, we can choose not to purchase this product, however, who is to say that when our kids are at camp, birthday parties, restaurants, fairs that they aren't using Kraft products. One will never know. I have gone through my cabinets and refrigerator and read all my labels and Kraft uses their yellow #5 or yellow #6 in all of their salad dressings. I have spent numerous hours at our dermatologists office..not understanding where the eczema and hives have come from. I have always tried to purchase dye free/alcohol free medications for my kids knowing that orange appearance(which is yellow #6) was a trigger for horrible hives.
People, wake up, for Kraft to remove Yellow dye #5&6 from the UK is telling us something. We need to be educated. For people to say that these women have nothing better to do is "pathetic". Obviously, they are very Educated and that's how they brought this to your attention. I hope this petition goes through and Kraft shows some sensitivity to it's consumers because I will not buy one more product until they do.

[WillieJenkins666]

"Food bloggers"?

It looks like these real ****** just added "media ******" to their list of whoring.

[REDQUEEN42065]

please people,i have been eatting this product for 40 years,iam healthy as a horse!!!!!!!sounds too me as if two stay at home rich ladies are bored with their lives at home((Yourmen dont pay enough attention too you!!!!!!)))no offense ,but are you under physciatric care????sugars cause add hyperness,there are no relevant studies about these dyes???iam so sick and tired of women like you and mike bloomburg ******** like little girls,that you make me sick,not kraft!!!!!!you both need too eat,you look like crack heads!!!also check this wenches,,,,I DRINK A 12 PACK A DAY OF PEPSI???IAM HEALTHY AS A HORSE,,,EXPLAIN THAT???IF YOU DONT LIKE THE PRODUCT,CHANGE WHAT YOU USE,BUT DONT TAKE AWAY MY RIGHT TOO EAT WHAT I CHOOSE!!!!

[Kimberly_P]

What Mojitomamma fails to consider is folks who literally can't make it from scratch. What about people with physical impairments who literally don't have the energy to cook something up from scratch and rely on things like Kraft? that's not laziness. If you think it's laziness then you're an awful person.

Annie's brand is a lot better than Kraft, but again there's the cost issue. Some folks can't afford expensive stuff so they have to buy stuff like Kraft. The least companies like Kraft could do is cut out the cruddy additives to make inexpensive foods safer for folks who don't have a lot of other options.

[WillieJenkins666]

If you think there is a market for such a product, go and make it yourself.

if not, please consider to ****.

[crush567]

I'm a fan of mac & cheese. Back in the school days, Kraft was a staple. Sometimes I couldn't afford either the milk or the butter. But that's just an aside. If one does not want to make it from scratch, I recommend "Annie's" organic mac & cheese. Quite a bit more expensive, but well worth it!

[Mystic_Redcat]

What is someone who writes a blog called "100 days of Real Food" doing anywhere near a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese (which in no way resembles real food). Agree with Mojitomamma just make if from scratch and who cares what Kraft puts in the awful blue box.