Everyone loves Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but does everyone know what is in that orange powder and what the powder does to Wisconsin dairy farmers and consumers?
The powder contains \milk protein concentrates,"" which are illegal under federal law. No real definition exists for MPCs because MPCs are not an approved food ingredient under Federal Drug Administration rules. The FDA has not completed ""generally recognized as safe"" tests, which they themselves require for valid food approval, on MPCs. MPCs are not inspected at points of entry to this country and it is unknown if or how the countries that sell us MPCs test for bacteria, PCBs, dioxins or radioactivity.
Yet they are in many dairy-orientated food products we eat. The primary offenders are all Kraft Singles, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Kraft Cheez Whiz and Kraft Handi Snacks and Lunchables, but also include many Oscar Mayer produces, Hershey's products and the majority of diet drinks, such as Slim Fast.
The Drug Administration's inactivity in enforcing their own laws for safe food standards is a major detriment to Wisconsin dairy farmers. Imports of MPCs and other food substitutes form part of a larger problem of imports crashing domestic milk prices, which, according to one Wisconsin farmer, are as low as they have been since 1978, while consumer prices are as high as they have ever been.
These trends are part of a larger political and economic pay off benefiting the very people who are supposed to be supporting U.S. and Wisconsin interests. Few firms are more connected to the Bush administration than Kraft and its parent firm, Philip Morris companies, and it is no surprise that this problem has exacerbated under the same leadership that has neglected the problem'and American and Wisconsin farmers'for the last decade at least.
Big companies like Philip Morris save money buying MPC powder by the ton at rock-bottom prices. In 2000, such companies imported 52 million metric tons of MPC, which is equivalent to 4.6 billion pounds of milk. Imagine what that kind of money could do for Wisconsin farmers and our state economy.
There are so many things that we can do to combat this problem. First, do not eat Kraft cheese products and be suspicious of what else you do eat. Part of the problem is that Kraft mislabels their products, under FDA rule, 21 C.F.R., Subpart B, on the front as ""Pasteurized Process Cheese Foods."" When you flip the package over it reads ""milk protein concentrate."" Watch for MPCs at restaurants and stores where you shop.
Second, contact Kraft (1-800-323-0768), the FDA (1-888-463-6332) and your legislators.
The illegal use of MPCs must stop now. We're stabbing Wisconsin farmers and ultimately ourselves in the back by buying these products.
