Consumer Reports has tested the popular snack kits known as Lunchables and found that the packaged and process foods within have high levels of lead and sodium.
The consumer advocacy group carried out tests on the Kraft Heinz Lunchables snack kits, as well as similar products from brands including Armour LunchMakers, Target’s Good & Gather, Greenfield Natural Meat and Oscar Mayer.
In all cases, the tests found, the snack kits “had potentially concerning heavy metal and phthalate levels. And they’re too high in sodium, especially for kids,” according to a post on Consumer Reports’ website.
“There’s a lot to be concerned about in these kits,” Amy Keating, registered dietitian at Consumer Reports, said in the post. “They’re highly processed, and regularly eating processed meat, a main ingredient in many of these products, has been linked to increased risk of some cancers.”
The report noted that none of the kits tested exceeded any legal or regulatory limits for food safety. Five of the 12 tested products, however, would expose someone to over half of the maximum allowable dose for lead or cadmium, according to regulations in the state of California.
Many of the products also contained between 25 and 50% of the daily allotment of sodium for children.
Kraft Heinz stands by its products.
When asked for comment by Consumer Reports, Kraft Heinz (the parent company for Lunchables, Oscar Mayer and P3) said that all of its food products “meet strict safety standards.” Smithfield Foods released a similar comment. Target did not respond to Consumer Reports’ request for comment on its Good & Gather products.
A chemist weighed in on the findings.
“We don’t think anybody should regularly eat these products, and they definitely shouldn’t be considered a healthy school lunch,” Eric Boring, a chemist who led the Consumer Reports testing, said in the post.
To read the full report, including details on the findings, click here to visit the Consumer Reports website.
-by Sean Adams, pennlive.com (TNS)
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