Kraft Foods Group is removing artificial preservatives and synthetic colors from its iconic macaroni and cheese, its latest step to appeal to diners seeking simpler fare.
The change, which Kraft announced Monday and will implement beginning in early 2016, comes after about three years of research, tweaking and consumer tests.
"Consumers have been telling us, and parents in particular, that they want to feel good about the foods that they eat and that they serve their families," said Triona Schmelter, Kraft's vice president of marketing for meals.
Kraft met with families in their homes, while grocery shopping, and as they cooked and ate to get a better sense of consumer preferences. While people say they want improved nutrition, such as more protein, calcium and whole grains, "the one thing they are most adamant about," Schmelter said, is "they absolutely don't want us to change the taste."
The latest overhaul of Kraft macaroni and cheese will remove the dyes Yellow Nos. 5 and 6. Instead, paprika, annatto and turmeric will help with color.
Kraft macaroni and cheese was introduced in 1937. There are now about two dozen varieties, including organic white cheddar macaroni and cheese.
It has been "a number of years" since Kraft made changes to its best-selling original macaroni and cheese, Schmelter said. Kraft already updated its well-known blue boxes and advertising to emphasize details such as 9 grams of protein per serving in response to consumer trends.
Kraft macaroni and cheese "shapes" products, such as those made to resemble characters from Star Wars or the upcoming Minions movie, dropped artificial preservatives in January and synthetic colors in 2014.
As of January 2016, Kraft plans to remove artificial preservatives and synthetic colors from its original U.S. product. The overhaul will also be made across other varieties, including Canada's Kraft Dinner, by the end of next year. Most of the products already have no artificial flavors. Kraft plans to remove artificial flavors from its microwaveable cups and Easy Mac in 2016.
Kraft is one of many major food companies trying to simplify recipes. It already started to sweeten its Capri Sun drinks with sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup and removed artificial preservatives from some of its Kraft Singles.
H.J. Heinz, which last month unveiled plans to buy Kraft, launched a yellow mustard last week highlighting natural ingredients such as stone-ground mustard seeds. Hershey is introducing a simpler list of ingredients for its milk chocolate bars and milk chocolate Kisses sold in the United States. And Kellogg is launching a line of muesli and granola cereals without preservatives, artificial colors or artificial flavors.
Kraft declined to say whether consumers would see prices change when the updated versions are released. It noted that the suggested retail price for "shapes" products did not rise when those products dropped artificial preservatives and synthetic colors.
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Explore all your optionsIn March, Kraft recalled about 242,000 cases of macaroni and cheese after eight consumers complained about possible pieces of metal. It was the latest in a string of recalls by Northfield-based Kraft over the past several months.
(c) 2015 the Chicago Tribune