--- title: Kraft Mac and Cheese Will Ditch the Synthetic Orange Coloring description: The manufacturer is ditching synthetic colors starting next year. canonical: https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-21T01:43:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:32:07.733Z article:section: Health og:title: Kraft Mac & Cheese Plans to Go for a More Natural Look og:description: The manufacturer is ditching synthetic colors starting next year. og:url: https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta75dd5ca3a977bfd/6987ec073c1639b9064559a0/kraft-mac-cheese.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2940 og:image:height: 1654 og:image:alt: Views Of Kraft Foods Products At A Supermarket Ahead Of Earns og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kraft Mac & Cheese Plans to Go for a More Natural Look twitter:description: The manufacturer is ditching synthetic colors starting next year. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta75dd5ca3a977bfd/6987ec073c1639b9064559a0/kraft-mac-cheese.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kraft Mac & Cheese Plans to Go for a More Natural Look > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Apr 21, 2015 1:43 AM UTC  Boxes of Kraft macaroni & cheese are displayed in Fog Hill Market in San Francisco, Calif. on Feb. 5, 2013. Boxes of Kraft macaroni & cheese are displayed in Fog Hill Market in San Francisco, Calif. on Feb. 5, 2013. David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Apr 21, 2015 1:43 AM UTC Your bowls of Kraft mac & cheese could look a bit [different](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iconic-kraft-macaroni--cheese-to-remove-synthetic-colors-and-artificial-preservatives-in-the-us-in-2016-300068396.html) starting next year. Kraft Foods Group will no longer use synthetic coloring or artificial preservatives in its original Macaroni & Cheese in the U.S., the company announced Monday, and it will also remove synthetic coloring from Kraft Dinner Original meals in Canada. Customers have long identified the pasta dish with the iconic orange color, but the manufacturer says it will turn to natural color alternatives derived from sources like turmeric, paprika and annatto. The company’s announcement called the move an “on-trend update” to the brand and explained that customers “want to feel good about the foods they eat and serve their families, including everything from improved nutrition to simpler ingredients.” The change is scheduled to come into effect in the U.S. in January 2016. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/"},"headline":"Kraft Mac & Cheese Plans to Go for a More Natural Look","datePublished":"2015-04-21T01:43:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:32:07.733Z","description":"The change is expected to go into effect in January 2016","url":"https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Food & Drink","kraft"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta75dd5ca3a977bfd/6987ec073c1639b9064559a0/kraft-mac-cheese.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta75dd5ca3a977bfd/6987ec073c1639b9064559a0/kraft-mac-cheese.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Views Of Kraft Foods Products At A Supermarket Ahead Of Earns","caption":"Views Of Kraft Foods Products At A Supermarket Ahead Of Earns","creditText":"David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3829094/kraft-mac-and-cheese-color/","name":"Kraft Mac & Cheese Plans to Go for a More Natural Look"}}]}] ```