You probably heard about the Kraft Dinner made with cauliflower last year. Well, I was perusing the store for new “healthy” foods to blog about last week and I noticed there’s also a “flax omega-3” version of this “Smart” Kraft Dinner. Looking at the side panel of the box, it shows that there is 0.3 g of omega-3 per serving. As that comes from flax, that’s (at best) about 1% of of your recommended daily DHA and about 1.4% of your recommended daily EPA. Not exactly staggering.

The box also brags that it doesn’t contain any artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives. The box shows “natural flavours” whatever those are. Natural does not necessarily denote health or safety. It also shows “annatto” for colour. I looked it up and apparently it’s a plant used for “diabetes, diarrhea, fevers, fluid retention, heart burn, malaria, hepatitis, and bowl cleansing (1). Side effects as a medication are unknown but supposedly as a food ingredient it’s safe.

Don’t be fooled: Kraft Dinner is still not a healthy choice. Adding a healthy food to an unhealthy food does not miraculously make it healthy. Sticking a little bit of flax into Kraft Dinner does not make it a super food.