WHAT'S IN BOXED MACARONI AND CHEESE?
BOXED MACARONI + CHEESE
Information updated January 2024
It’s one of America’s favorite comfort foods and it can be found in different iterations in every town in the U.S. You may find it in Maine with Lobster or with Shredded Pork in Tennessee, yummmmm!
Macaroni and cheese is super easy to make at home >> the ingredients likely include these basics >> pasta, butter, flour, milk and cheese.
As usual, when we look at the branded products to follow, ingredients which we would not use at home to make Macaroni + Cheese are designated as Not In Kitchen™.
KRAFT HEINZ’S KRAFT MACARONI & CHEESE IS THE #1 PACKAGED MACARONI & CHEESE BRAND IN THE U.S. AND IS FAR FROM HOMEMADE™. (Source for brand ranking: Statista 2024)
Let’s see which ingredients are Not In Kitchen in Kraft Macaroni & Cheese classic Blue Box. (Source for ingredients: Kraft Heinz Kraft Mac and Cheese Web site 1/24)
The product contains Milk Protein Concentrate which is a commercial ingredient to function as part of the dairy aspect, while simultaneously dialing up the protein content. Additional Not In Kitchen ingredients include Emulsifying Agents, the FDA-recognized Chemical Preservative Citric Acid and Added Coloring. (Source for FDA-recognized Preservatives: U.S. FDA 2024) We would never use these types of ingredients at home to make Mac + Cheese from scratch.
KRAFT HEINZ’S KRAFT MACARONI & CHEESE BLUE BOX CONTAINS THE FDA-RECOGNIZED PRESERVATIVE, CITRIC ACID. On the package front of Kraft’s Macaroni & Cheese it says ‘No Artificial Preservatives’, yet it contains an FDA-recognized Chemical Preservative >> Citric Acid.
Q: There is erroneous and misleading information on Kraft Heinz’s Macaroni & Cheese packaging with regard to ‘No Artificial Preservatives’ claims >> How is this possible?
Once upon a time, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese did not contain Citric Acid or Lactic Acid. (Source: Historical Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Package)
KRAFT HEINZ ALSO MAKES THE FAR FROM HOMEMADE VELVEETA SHELLS & CHEESE AND KRAFT DELUXE MACARONI & CHEESE >> these two products both contain multiple ingredients Not In Kitchen.. (Sources for ingredients: Kraft Heinz Velveeta and Deluxe on Kraft Heinz and Kraft Mac and Cheese Web sites 1/24)
ANNIE’S IS OWNED BY GENERAL MILLS: Annie’s Shells & White Cheddar contains Whey, Sodium Phosphate and Silicon Dioxide which are all Not In Kitchen. (Source for ingredients: General Mills Annie’s Web site 1/24)
Silicon Dioxide a.k.a. Silica is able to absorb moisture and is used to keep the cheese powder from clumping together. Silica is the same thing that is in those tiny plastic pouches or containers in prescription and other bottles that may say ‘Do Not Eat’.
THIS NEXT OFFERING OF GENERAL MILLS’ ANNIE’S SHELLS & WHITE CHEDDAR IS ORGANIC AND IS MADE WITH CHEESE FROM GRASS FED COWS. This product also contains ingredients which are Not In Kitchen.
Similar to the base brand (above), this Organic Annie’s product contains added Whey, Sodium Phosphate and Silicon Dioxide.
ORGANIC MACARONI + CHEESE BRANDS CAN ALSO HAVE INGREDIENTS NOT IN KITCHEN. Below we see Amazon’s Whole Foods 365 brand, Good & Gather at Target and Field Day all contain Not In Kitchen ingredients. (Sources for ingredients: Brand Web sites 1/24)
Discover food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.
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And here’s a glance at a couple of old print ads for Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese:
