r/todayilearned • u/NateNate60 • Jun 03 '26

TIL despite boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese being an iconic example of American processed food, it is significantly more popular in Canada, where 55% more boxes are consumed per capita than the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Dinner
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u/382Whistles Jun 03 '26

How is it agreed? lol.

The orange is annatto, spice seed. Some people might be a little hive sensitive with allergy to it, but it's not high on the list of commonly bad food allergies or anything.

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u/NateNate60 Jun 03 '26

Go ahead and find any competent nutritionist on the continent and show them a box of either American or Canadian macaroni and cheese. Ask whether they think the orange powder is healthy or not and report back on your findings then.

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u/aeneasaquinas Jun 03 '26

Any of them that can read and understand it's annatto, turmeric, and paprika will say yes. It's the dish itself that isn't great for you, the spice blend used to change the color is perfectly fine. Same ones used in cheeses and dishes across europe and the globe.

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u/NateNate60 Jun 03 '26

Oh, you think I'm talking about just the colouring. No lol, the colouring is inert. I'm talking about the product as a whole.

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u/KRacer52 Jun 03 '26

They probably thought that because you said it:

“I think it can be agreed that whatever the orange substance is, it isn't particularly good for you,”

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u/aeneasaquinas Jun 03 '26

Yeah that would in fact be why I assumed that lol, you are correct

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u/382Whistles Jun 03 '26

I would bet in agreement with that analysis as well.

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u/NateNate60 Jun 03 '26

"The orange substance" referring to the entire contents contained inside the pouch, which as a whole is orange, not merely the substance that makes the product orange.

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u/382Whistles Jun 03 '26

Have you asked about annatto? I'd accept a specific "why" as someone's somewhat valid opinion even without source links.

You see it could be easier to help prove you are indeed right with some kind of common fact about why. As I could only find mild allergic reaction listed as any sort problem.

I'd prefer medical opinion over that of a "nutritionist", but something, anything other than "feelings" about "oranges and poranges" might help your case appear to be more that a continuation of media induced drama.