If Kraft changes their Macaroni and Cheese, I know this could inspire other food companies across the US to finally eliminate dangerous artificial food dyes once and for all. Leake, of Matthews, N.C., and Hari, of Charlotte, have posted a YouTube video showing them taste-testing the U.S. version and the British version (known as Cheesey Pasta), which have "little difference in color and virtually no difference in taste," says the petition. The additives -- yellow dye 5 and yellow dye 6 -- are both legal and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but serve "aesthetic purposes" only, and have "been banned in countries like Norway and Austria (and are being phased out in the U.K.)," the petition says. They point to research conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that says the two food dyes have been associated with hyperactivity in children, allergies, migraine and, because yellow dyes are petroleum-based, perhaps cancer. Kraft isn't the only food company that markets products in the USA that contain ingredients not allowed in Europe or that reformulate foods to meet other countries' safety regulations, says Hari, who writes the blog Food Babe. One of those products is an iconic staple that almost every American, us included, has had at one time or another: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. "If they say safety is their highest priority, why still use a questionable ingredient that has a warning label when used in Europe?" "It doesn't make us feel that it's their highest concern." North Carolina food bloggers Lisa Leake, left, and Vani Hari are asking Kraft to remove yellow dyes 5 and 6 from the U.S. version of its macaroni and cheese.
– A pair of food bloggers are taking aim at one of America's most iconic delicacies: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Lisa Leake and Vani Hari have as of this writing gathered more than 148,000 signatures on a Change.org petition asking Kraft to stop using food dyes in the product, giving US customers the same dye-free mac & cheese already sold in Europe, USA Today reports. European food safety laws generally forbid or discourage Yellow #5 and Yellow #6, so Kraft has devised a version without them that looks and tastes nearly identical. Food dyes are used in a host of American groceries, but Leake and Hari say studies have linked them to hyperactivity, allergies, and learning disabilities in kids, and shown that Yellow #5 and #6 in particular can cause cancer. But Kraft points out that the FDA has approved the ingredients; the company says safety and quality are "our highest priority." Leake's reply: "If they say safety is their highest priority, why still use a questionable ingredient that has a warning label when used in Europe?"