Kraft Mac & Cheese changed its recipe and no one noticed
Your favorite childhood food got a surprisingly healthy update—three months ago. Kraft changed its Mac & Cheese recipe on the DL last December, ditching artificial flavors and colors in a big way.
That electric orange hue is no longer due to dyes yellow 5 and 6 (because what are those, even?)—paprika, annatto, and turmeric are keeping the food's vibrant color. Artificial flavors and preservatives are out in the new recipe, too, but one of the natural preservatives is sodium, as CNN points out.
The updates are an exciting improvement. "Over the years, people were telling us they wanted to feel better about the ingredients in the foods they eat and serve their families. At the same time, our loyal fans didn't want us to mess with the iconic look or taste of their [mac & cheese]," Greg Guidotti, vice president of meal solutions for Kraft Heinz, tells SELF over email. "We saw the opportunity to improve our ingredient line."
The taste remains the same, says Guidotti—as evidenced by literally no one noticing over the past three months. Funny enough, though, the nutrition label hasn't been lying. The ingredients have been updated since the change was made, Kraft just haven't been advertising it till now.
"Since we knew that the new product tasted just as good as the old, we decided not to immediately shout the recipe change from the rooftops because we wanted fans to experience it for themselves without being prompted," says Guidotti. Fair enough—they actually announced that their classic Blue Box recipe would be changing last April. "We told our fans about the change in ingredients now, because their approval was the ultimate test," Guidotti adds.
So, if you've had a box recently, you've already taste tested the new recipe, along with 50 million other people (that's how many boxes have been sold since the switch). Kraft is dubbing this "The World's Largest Blind Taste Test." Is there a Guinness world record for that?
Click through the slideshow below to see some of our favorite homemade mac and cheese recipes:
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