KRAFT Heinz has spoken out after excluding the iconic snack from school lunch boxes without addressing health concerns that emerged from tests just months before the move.
Kraft Heinz has confirmed that the lunches will no longer be part of the National School Lunch Program.
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Kraft Heinz insists it pulled the snack due to lack of demand.
But the nonprofit Consumer Reports said the manufacturer failed to cite tests that detect dangerous levels of lead and sodium in lunch foods as a reason for the declining demand.
The NSLP program, which feeds about 29 million schoolchildren in the United States daily, aims to ensure children have consistent access to food.
Two lunch kits are included as part of the federal program: Turkey and Cheddar Cheese Lunch Kits and Extra Cheese Pizza Lunch Kits.
However, despite the excitement of the new additions that came last year, the company has now pulled them from the program.
“Last year, we introduced two NSLP-compliant lunch options to schools that increased their protein content,” Kraft Heinz said.
“While many school administrators were excited to have these options, demand did not meet our goals.”
According to the manufacturer, these kits accounted for less than 1% of Lunchables product sales, and their “impact on the business is negligible,” the company said.
“This happens occasionally across our broad portfolio, especially as we explore new sales channels,” Kraft Heinz added in a statement to USA TODAY.
But the recent controversy over the snacks is to blame for this decline in sales, the nonprofit group Consumer Reports said in its press release after the Lunchables' removal.
This is a point Kraft Heinz did not mention in its press release.
CR recently conducted tests on NSLP's Lunchables meal kits and the conclusions sparked health concerns and calls for their removal from school lunches.
Tests found 74% of the lead in turkey and cheddar cheese crackers and 49% of sodium.
Extra cheese pizza contains 69% lead and 34% sodium.
“We don't think anyone should eat these products regularly, and they certainly shouldn't be considered a healthy school lunch,” said Eric Boring, Ph.D., a CR chemist who led the CR testing.
“There's a lot to be concerned about in these groups,” said Amy Keating, a registered dietitian at Consumer Reports.
“It's highly processed, and regularly eating processed meat, which is the main ingredient in many of these products, is associated with an increased risk of some cancers.”
In September, CR and More Perfect Union called on the Department of Agriculture to remove lunches from the school program after the results of these tests came back.
Now, following news that Kraft Heinz has pulled them from the program, CR has “applauded” the news and called on the USDA to adopt stricter regulations on school lunches.
However, in CR's subsequent press release from Kraft, the nonprofit claimed that the removal came as a direct result of its testing.
“This move comes after tests conducted by CR found that lunches and similar lunch sets contained relatively high levels of sodium, lead and cadmium,” CR said.
She then added that as a result, “demand for meal kits fell below the company’s expected targets.”
The US Sun has reached out to Kraft Heinz for comment.
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