In response to rising health concerns over its nutritional value and potential contaminants, Kraft Heinz has announced it will withdraw its popular Lunchables products from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The decision follows a September petition by Consumer Reports and More Perfect Union, which gathered more than 50,000 signatures urging the USDA to remove the popular meal kits from federally funded school lunch offerings. Kraft Heinz maintained that the choice to discontinue the kits was unrelated to the consumer group’s findings, yet the decision comes amid heightened scrutiny of food safety and nutritional standards for school-age children.
Adobe The petition submitted to USDA cited findings from Consumer Reports’ independent testing, which revealed elevated sodium levels in two of the Lunchables kits currently available in schools. Testing indicated that these versions contained even higher levels of sodium than their store-bought counterparts, raising concerns among parents and health advocates alike. Additionally, tests conducted on 12 store-bought lunch kits — spanning brands like Armour, LunchMakers, Good and Gather, Greenfield Natural Meat Co.
, and Oscar Mayer — detected potentially dangerous substances such as lead, cadmium, and phthalates. Although none of the lunch kits violated existing federal limits, five products contained levels of lead and cadmium that would surpass 50 percent of California’s maximum allowable intake for these heavy meta.
