Petition targets Kraft Dinner’s use of dyes

A petition on Change.org calling on Kraft Foods to remove artificial dyes from its North American Macaroni and Cheese products is garnering support in Canada.

Food bloggers have started a petition to get Kraft to remove the artificial dyes from it's macaroni and cheese products.

A petition to remove Kraft Dinner’s distinctive orange hue is gaining traction on both sides of the border.

U.S. food bloggers Vani Hari and Lisa Leake started the petition on change.org asking that Kraft Food Group remove artificial dyes from its North American macaroni and cheese products.

The women say tartrazine, or yellow #5 and #6 as it is referred to in the U.S, is an unnecessary ingredient and want it removed from the macaroni and cheese sold in Canada and the U.S. The dye is not found in Kraft Dinner sold in U.K. and Europe. Tartrazine is in a variety of foods and beverages, from ice cream to popcorn to energy drinks. Studies have linked it to impulsivity and loss of concentration in children.

As of Thursday, the petition had garnered more than 270,000 signatures — 25,000 signatures belong to Canadians.

“If it doesn’t provide any nutritional value and the product will look and taste the same without these artificial ingredients, it is senseless to have them in a product. I would buy Kraft Dinner (which I do not purchase now) if it did not contain artificial food dye,” Sara McPhee from Halifax wrote on change.org.

Kraft posted a note to Hari and Leake on the website stating “safety and quality of our products is our highest priority and we take consumer concerns very seriously. We carefully follow the laws and regulations in the countries where our products are sold.”

These types of consumer-driven petitions have had success before. Earlier this year PepsiCo Inc. announcing it was removing brominated vegetable oil from some of its products after a change.org petition garnered national attention. Hari and Leake have been featured on the Dr. Oz Show and Good Morning America since they began their fight earlier this month.

Health Canada says the dye is legal and, as with other food additives, has undergone a safety assessment test.

“Although the available scientific data indicate that tartrazine does not pose a public health concern when used in foods according to the conditions specified in the List of Permitted Colouring Agents, Health Canada recognizes that some individuals may be sensitive to tartrazine or certain other food colours and that declaration of these colours by name in the list of ingredients would help them with making food choices,” said Sean Upton, a senior media relations officer at Health Canada.

Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations require that food additives be declared in the list of ingredients on most prepackaged foods, said Upton. In the case of colours, manufacturers have the option of declaring colours by name or by the general term “colour.”

In Canada, the maximum amount of tartrazine allowed in a product is 300 p.p.m. (parts per million). On the Kraft Dinner box, no amount is given but “contains tartrazine” is listed under ingredients.

Upton said Health Canada reviews any new scientific information that becomes available about permitted food additives. If a health risk is identified as a result of re-evaluating on an already-approved additive, the department will take action.