Last school year, food giant Kraft Heinz began offering its signature Lunchables for sale to school systems across the United States. But there was so little appetite for the ultra-processed product — which had been reformulated to qualify for free or reduced lunches — that the company has ceased sales to school districts.
“While many school administrators were excited to have these options, the demand did not meet our targets,” Kraft Heinz spokeswoman Lynsey Elve said in a statement Tuesday.
The company said it hopes to revisit the decision and possibly resume offering the product through the National School Lunch Program at a later date.
A Washington Post examination of Lunchables’ arrival last year in the school meals program revealed how the powerful food industry’s influence factored into the federal government’s decision to lower government nutrition standards. That decision meant the product could be available to as many as 30 million students if school systems decided to offer it.
The Post’s investigation found Kraft Heinz had increased protein and dietary fiber components so that Lunchables could meet school nutrition standards. At the same time, sodium levels in Lunchables served in school cafeterias were roughly 25% higher than the version sold in grocery stores.
Marion Nestle, a retired professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said Lunchables “were too expensive for schools to buy on their tight school meal budgets, too nutritionally controversial, unable to be supplied adequately, and too generative of unfavourable publicity.”
Nutrition experts previously told The Post they were appalled that the ultra-processed food — the turkey in the Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers contained 14 ingredients — would be served as part of the National School Lunch Program.
Ann Cooper, a chef who evangelizes about cooking whole foods for children at school, said she was surprised but ecstatic that school districts had rejected the ultra-processed food option.
“Lunchables have no place in schools,” she said. “Times are changing — more and more people and the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] for the last four years and also under the Obama administration have really been pushing healthier school food. This is just a sign that marketing isn’t everything.”
According to its own estimates, Kraft Heinz saw a $25 billion growth opportunity in the school lunch market, where the company has access to generations of future customers. But school administrators told The Post last year they couldn’t afford the product.
In the statement Tuesday, Kraft Heinz said sales were “far less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales, so business impact is negligible.”
It has been a rough year for Kraft Heinz and Lunchables: Lagging sales are a drag on the company, according to an investor call last month.
Consumer Reports called for the removal of Lunchables from schools in April after finding concerning levels of lead in the packaging of those sold in stores — as well as increased sodium.
Kraft Heinz’s announcement comes amid renewed scrutiny of ultra-processed foods in school lunches by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has vowed to “Make America Healthy Again” by cracking down on unhealthy food. Kennedy is expected to play a large role in the forthcoming Trump administration.