<i>“The phthalate concentrations in powder from mac and cheese mixes were more than four times higher than in block cheese and other natural cheeses like shredded cheese, string cheese and cottage cheese,”</i><p>As a chemist, I have to ask, how much phthalate was actually found? Telling me it's 4x higher than block cheese tells me nothing since block cheese may have barely detectable phthalates.<p>The dose makes the poison.<p>Our ability to detect chemicals has vastly improved over the years. It's not hard to detect chemicals in the parts per trillion (ppt) at this point in time.<p>You can't say "the chemical is there, let's be scared". The levels need to be quantified.<p>That's why drinking water has acceptable levels for things like cyanide, lead and mercury. No matter what water you test, you'll find those things. But if the amount is well below toxic levels, then it's not a big deal.
On a related note, I've spent an embarrassing amount of time searching for good, creamy mac and cheese, including from-scratch recipes.<p>So far, this has been the winner: <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/01/3-ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/01/3-ingredient-stov...</a><p>It's three ingredients, stupidly simple, and you pick the cheeses you want. I'd argue it's as easy as boxed; you don't even have to drain the pasta. (P.S. if you've never cooked pasta the way the recipe instructs, you'll be blown away by how much more rich the flavor will be!)<p>We use sharp white cheddar from the grocery store, mixed with a little bit of American. Add a dash of dijon mustard and Frank's hot sauce. Feel free to experiment (but stick to good melting cheeses)!<p>I also add a dash of sodium citrate before adding the cheese. It helps the cheese remain completely smooth and more tolerant of careless cooking. You can buy a huge bag off Amazon.<p>EDIT: Also, when we have friends over for this, we've started cooking it in a large dutch oven. Sounds crazy, but it actually turned out even better. The heat regulation and retention of the dutch oven I think helps the cheese melt more evenly and consistently. Plus you can keep it warm for longer after cooking.
Every time I read an article like this, I'm reminded of Michael Pollan's writings on food. His advice, even though I read it years and years ago, has stood the test of time for me:<p>> Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....</a>
To pre-empt the inane pedantic reactions that always seem to accompany discussions on such articles: yes, water is a chemical too, as are vitamins, etc.<p>When people talk about "chemicals in food" they mean additional, lab created stuff added to the food, like artificial sweeteners, additives, preservatives, coloring, remains from the production and transportation process, etc.<p>Those against "chemicals" in food obviously don't advocate for food made without any kind of molecules and chemical substances.<p>Amazingly not only functions can be overloaded, but words too.
When I was a child, for various reasons, I was quite a chow hound. I've long wondered if whether or not things like phthalates and BPA had significant effects on my growing body; I had a lot of less-than-masculine features to my body, some of which is correctable and some not. It could very well be that being an overweight adolescent meant that excess body fat caused me to have too much estrogen, but perhaps there was more going on. Maybe I'd have more androgen receptors by now and I'd be able to work less for the same muscle mass. IDK<p>At the same time, I don't think I can really say that the amount of any of these chemicals in mac-n-cheese would make me avoid it outright. Really, you should only be occasionally eating junk food link mac-n-cheese, and the amount of anything you would have in a box every week or two is not going to make a lick of difference to your endocrine system. Perhaps it's particularly bad for the poor who eat lots of cheap junk like Kraft products, but there are also far cheaper and healthier ways to get your nutrition – rice, beans, real butter, and actual cheese alone are much more cost effective than buying boxes of mac-n-cheese; just visit a Mexican market and you'll see what I mean.
Misleading title. Should be "Chemicals in boxed mac and cheese". It's entirely possible (and way more delicious!) to make mac and cheese from scratch in a very little amount of time