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Kraft Mac And Cheese is one of the most popular comfort foods in America. It is quick and easy to make, and it is also very affordable. Kraft Mac And Cheese is also very versatile, as it can be used as a side dish or as a main course. But, is Kraft Mac and Cheese vegan?
Kraft Mac And Cheese is not vegan because it contains milk. There is a vegan Kraft Mac And Cheese, but it’s only available in Australia at the moment.
Below is a table showing Kraft Mac And Cheese flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Blue Box | |
| Kraft Mac And Cheese Vegan | Only available in Australia. |
| Original | No, contains Milk. |
| Thick & Creamy | No, contains Milk. |
| Spirals | No, contains Milk. |
| Three Cheese | No, contains Milk. |
| White Cheddar | No, contains Milk. |
| Whole Grain | No, contains Milk. |
| Unicorn Shapes | No, contains Milk. |
| Black Panther Wakanda Forever | No, contains Milk. |
| Paw Patrol | No, contains Milk. |
| Microwavable | |
| Original Cup | No, contains Milk. |
| XL Cup Original | No, contains Milk. |
| Triple Cheese Cup | No, contains Milk. |
| XL Cup Triple Cheese | No, contains Milk. |
| Whole Grain Cup | No, contains Milk. |
| Paw Patrol Shapes Cup | No, contains Milk. |
| Frozen Cup | No, contains Milk. |
| Deluxe | |
| White Cheddar & Cracked Black Peppercorn | No, contains Milk. |
| Deluxe Original Cheddar | No, contains Milk. |
| Family Size Original Cheddar | No, contains Milk. |
| Deluxe Four Cheese Cheddar | No, contains Milk. |
| Deluxe Sharp Cheddar 14 | No, contains Milk. |
| White Cheddar Garlic & Herb | No, contains Milk. |
| Made with 2% Milk Cheese | No, contains Milk. |
| White Cheddar & Bacon | No, contains Milk. |
Kraft Mac And Cheese Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Acetylated Monoglycerides
- Annatto Extract [color]
- Black Pepper
- Buttermilk
- Calcium Phosphate
- Canola Oil
- Cheddar Cheese
- Cheese Culture
- Cheese Sauce
- Citric Acid
- Corn Syrup Solids
- Cream
- Dried Buttermilk
- Durum Flour
- Enriched Macaroni
- Enzymes
- Ferrous Sulfate [iron]
- Folic Acid
- Garlic
- Glyceryl Monostearate
- Guar Gum
- Lactic Acid
- Lactose
- Maltodextrin
- Medium Chain Triglycerides
- Milk
- Milk Protein Concentrate
- Milkfat
- Modified Food Starch
- Natural Flavor
- Natural Flavor [contains Celery]
- Niacin
- Nonfat Dry Milk
- Oleoresin Paprika [color]
- Onion
- Palm Oil
- Riboflavin [vitamin B2]
- Salt
- Seasoning Blend
- Sodium Alginate
- Sodium Phosphate
- Sodium Triphosphate
- Sorbic Acid As A Preservative
- Tapioca Flour
- Thiamin Mononitrate [vitamin B1]
- Turmeric
- Whey Protein Concentrate
- Whole Wheat Flour
- With Paprika
- Xanthan Gum
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk
All flavors can contain several ingredients made from milk such as buttermilk, cheese and whey protein. Since all the ingredients are made from cows milk, they are not vegan-friendly.
Questionable Ingredients
Natural Flavors
This ingredient is an umbrella term, meaning it often consists of several flavors and for vegans this is a problem because the source of the ingredients are not disclosed on the ingredients label. This means that natural flavors can contain ingredients sourced from animals and it would not show on the ingredients label.
Natural flavors is often vegan-friendly, but it’s depends on what kinda of food product it is. The best way to be sure if it’s vegan-friendly is to contact the company and ask.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is a very important topic to discuss and ever since the deforestation was disclosed to the public, it’s not only vegans that is avoiding product contain palm oil anymore. The severe deforestation in the palm oil industry is forcing away wildlife such as orangutans away from their homes.
Exploiting animal in the production process does not align with veganism. However there is a way for palm oil to be more vegan-friendly and it’s called RSPO. A non profit organisation that helps companies produce and buy sustainable palm oil with minimum impact on the environment.
Corn
Corn is one of the most common GMO crops in USA and the problem with these is the high amount of herbicide that is used in order for the crops to grow. The herbicide can pollute the surrounding environment, damaging it severely.
Therefore a lot of vegans are looking for products that has the label non GMO project. Their label ensures that the product doesn’t contain any GMOs.
Medium Chain Triglycerides
This ingredient can be both animal-sourced and sourced from plants.
Vegan Alternative To Kraft Mac And Cheese
I found a great vegan alternative called Annie’s Organic Vegan Mac.
Conclusion
Mac and Cheese having a vegan option is great, however it’s only available in Australia. Hopefully the will launch this flavor in other countries as well. Most Mac and Cheese flavors today do contain dairy because of the cheese used, but there are some vegan versions of this product.
Thanks for reading, take care!
