The Jell-O Effect: Cleaner ingredients, big profits

I care about food because I care about my health. I’m 42 years old and, until a few years ago, I’d been battling severe inflammation and pain since I was about 10, when I started having excruciating joint pain. I’ve been diagnosed with everything from fibromyalgia to “I don’t know, ma’am … sucks to be you.” And one day, I figured out that the culprit was Yellow #6 ― a dye found in common American convenience foods like lemonade drinks, butter-flavored popcorn, candies, pudding, gelatin, and salad dressings.

Two years ago at Thanksgiving, I ate three bites of orange Jell-O. Within 20 minutes, I was curled up, whimpering with debilitating pain and unable to walk without a limp. Luckily, I recognized the attack for what it was, took two Prelief tablets to alkalize my body and reduce the pain, and the rest of our holiday was lovely.

{mosads}How many people, though, are suffering from what they believe to be “old age,” arthritis or some mystery disease when the culprit is in their refrigerator or pantry, and relief is within reach?

The scoop on the new Jell-O

Perhaps you’ve heard that there’s a new Jell-O in town. The popular gelatin and pudding desserts have long contained ingredients entirely unnecessary for the temptation of our taste buds. The artificial flavors, dyes and preservatives needed to go, and I, for one, was thrilled to hear they were gone. Until I learned they aren’t entirely gone. Now, there are just more kinds of Jell-O and some of it is better than the rest.

Jell-O Simply Good is a line of dessert mixes from processed food giant Kraft Foods, Inc. — the latest in the food industry’s introduction of “better-for-you” foods. Simply Good claims to be free of artificial flavors, dyes and preservatives. These new versions of Jell-O snacks (four gelatin flavors and four pudding flavors) have done away with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) as a preservative, perhaps because BHA is banned in European countries and Japan, and because it’s been linked to insomnia, increased appetite, loss of energy, liver and kidney damage, fetal abnormalities, mental and physical retardation, cancer and baldness.

The new desserts also don’t contain artificial colorings or dyes, which are banned in countries like Norway, France, Austria, the UK and Finland, and which have been linked to neurological problems, brain cancer, ADD, ADHD and hyperactivity in children. What’s more, the new Jell-O products don’t contain artificial flavors, like synthetic chemicals made from petroleum, which have been linked to nervous system depression, dizziness, chest pain, headache, fatigue, allergies, brain damage, seizures, nausea and bladder cancer.

In many respects, the Jell-O announcement is great news. It appears that Kraft cares about helping to make us healthier. But the truth is that the manufacturing of processed foods is a business. Kraft cares about profits, as any good business should; the fact that we’re getting slightly better food in the bargain is a perk we’ve earned by voting with our grocery dollars each time we choose products with cleaner ingredients.

The business case for “better-for-you” foods

Without doubt, there are food scientists and executives at Kraft who care about our health and wellness. But that’s not what’s driving food companies to reformulate their most popular products. The goal is to make those products even more popular. The removal of additives from foods is all about profit, not about the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry suddenly feeling guilty about feeding us FDA-approved poisons all these years.

Companies like Kraft, General Mills and many others are abandoning artificial flavors, preservatives and colors because up-market consumers are demanding it. The trend is fueled by people of privilege but will ultimately benefit us all. You see, consumers ― particularly those in the middle and upper socioeconomic classes who normally wouldn’t be caught dead eating instant pudding or dinner from a box ― are demanding cleaner food, fewer chemicals and a higher standard of ethics from CPG companies.

And responding to those demands is big business. By not responding to the concerns of the educated and wealthy elite, who increasingly understand that convenience foods often contain dangerous ingredients, food companies keep at arm’s distance the customers who can afford to avoid their products.

And Kraft and others don’t want the consumers who have the fattest wallets to forego their products anymore. They want all Americans to eat their processed foods and, soon, perhaps we all will. Food manufacturers got their start by making marginally healthful foods that were relatively nonperishable and affordable to the masses. Now that they have efficient factories and huge economies of scale, these companies can make their products with better ingredients and still sell them at a retail price that most people can afford.

Here’s what you need to know about the “better-for-you” (BFY) food trend before you head to the grocery store:

• “Better-for-you” is not the equivalent of “healthy.” Food companies are introducing slightly less offensive versions of their products in an attempt to appeal to more health-conscious consumers. They’re replacing high-fructose corn syrup with real sugar, taking the gluten out of products that taste great without wheat, and doing away with artificial flavors and dyes. But a “better-for-you” candy bar is still a candy bar. And just because some of the additives were taken out of your favorite foods doesn’t mean there aren’t still nasty ingredients lurking in there. Remember, these new foods were designed and marketed to you to attract your grocery dollars, not to improve your health.

• “Better-for-you” food, because it’s not “diet food,” often tastes as good or better than the original versions. That’s because the new-and-improved varieties are more likely to contain real food. Nearly a year ago, Kraft removed the artificial colors, flavor and preservatives from its blockbuster American dinner table staple, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and no one noticed. The marketing campaign that ensued three months later was brilliant. And my friend Dawn, who was admittedly petrified that her 12-year-olds Matthew and Katie would stage a revolt if the new Mac & Cheese wasn’t as tasty as it used to be, reports that they actually prefer it to the former, chemical-laden version. Who knew? Interestingly, the Yellow #5 and Yellow #6 that previously gave this cheesy delight its bright orange color was replaced with natural spices, paprika, annatto and turmeric, all of which have health benefits. Products like this are still chock-full of sodium and fat, but they’re better than they used to be, and that’s a step in the right direction.

• “Better-for-you” foods require a slightly bigger grocery budget. As companies introduce new versions of their products, you’ll see that these simple, natural ingredients come at a cost. A dessert mix that might have cost $0.99 in the original variety may cost $1.59 in the BFY version, as is the case with Jell-O. But big companies have big buying power with their suppliers and big efficiencies to exploit, so the prices are still pretty reasonable. I recently discovered that Barilla’s gluten-free (GF) pastas cost about half what competitors charge, and the Barilla version, to me, is the best GF pasta on the market.

• Not all “better” products are “changed” products. While some food products have been entirely reformulated to be simpler and healthier (like Macaroni & Cheese, for which there is no longer an “old” version available), other companies are hedging their bets and introducing product extensions (like the eight new Jell-O mixes) rather than actually changing their iconic products. So be aware when you grab a box of Jell-O mix that it’s still the same old junk, full of petroleum-based ingredients and toxic chemicals. Only the Simply Good versions, in packets (not boxes) are free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

Companies are betting big on BFY products, and if I were a gambler, my bet would be that the investments Kraft and others are making to improve their products (in actuality and in the minds of the consumers) are poised to pay off big.

As for what I care about? I’m hoping that Americans with a host of health complaints will suddenly start feeling much better as the harmful additives are removed from our foods. And maybe, just maybe I’ll try orange Jell-O again.

Kate Colbert is a marketing consultant, market researcher and professional writer who specializes in strategic storytelling for healthcare, higher education and professional services brands. She is founder and president of Silver Tree Communications in Kenosha, WI.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.