Kraft Heinz has pulled its once wildly popular Lunchables meal from schools months after a damning report by Consumer Trends found they contained high levels of sodium and lead, the food company announced Wednesday.
The National School Lunch Program, a meal program that offers low-cost or free lunches to qualifying students in public and nonprofit private schools, green "federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions,"
A little over a year after the National School Lunch Program green-lighted selling the Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza lunch kits in public schools, its producer, Kraft Heinz, has pulled the plug, citing poor demand.
The lunch kits made up less than 1% of Lunchables' sales, per the company, but the "business impact is negligible," they added.
In April, Consumer Trends released a report that found the Lunchable kits had "relatively high levels of lead, cadmium and sodium," Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports told USA Today. This week, he celebrated their removal.
"Lunchables and other lunch kits with concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals have no place on the school lunch menu," Ronholm said in a statement obtained by USA Today. "We're pleased that Heinz Kraft has pulled Lunchables from the school lunch program after lower than expected demand from school districts across the country."
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