Food Blogger Vani Hari Take On Kraft Mac & Cheese: Live Interview on CNN
What this video covers
This March 2013 live CNN interview captures Vani Hari at the launch of the campaign that made her a national name: her Change.org petition with fellow blogger Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food, demanding Kraft remove artificial Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 from its macaroni and cheese.
Their case, as stated in the petition: the dyes are petroleum-derived, require warning labels in Europe, are banned in Norway and Austria, and have been linked — per Center for Science in the Public Interest research they cited — to hyperactivity in children. Their central argument was comparative: Kraft already sold dye-free mac & cheese in the UK and 14 dye-free varieties in the US, so the American product could match.
Kraft initially said it had no plans to change, noting the FDA had approved the dyes as safe. The petition eventually gathered over 365,000 signatures. In November 2013, Kraft announced it would remove the dyes from its character-shaped mac & cheese lines, replacing them with paprika — while saying the move was part of broader reformulation efforts, not a response to the petition.
Key points
- Live CNN spot during the spring 2013 petition push, co-led with Lisa Leake.
- The demand: remove Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, and make the US product match the UK’s dye-free version.
- Cited CSPI research linking the dyes to hyperactivity in children — attributed, not stated as fact.
- Kraft met with the bloggers, then said it had no plans to change the recipe.
- The petition topped 365,000 signatures; Kraft dropped the dyes from its kid-targeted Shapes lines in November 2013.
- Kraft said the reformulation was a company initiative, not a response to the petition — both claims are on the record.