Kraft Heinz discontinues school Lunchables

Lunchables—pre-packaged boxes of crackers, cheese, and deli meat—will no longer be part of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), a school program that provides free lunches to kids in need, Kraft Heinz announced Tuesday. While Lunchables, which were first introduced in the ’80s, are popular with kids (and parents, given they are easy to pop in a lunchbox), critics have suggested that the meals, including those the brand made specifically for schools, aren’t nutritious.

In early 2023, Kraft Heinz introduced two meals “built for schools”—a pizza kit and a turkey and cheese plate. In an advertisement for the meal kits, the brand listed the amount of protein and whole grains. “Two Lunchables now meet NSLP guidelines!” it wrote. But criticism over including the snack in the program came quickly. 

The Center for Science in the Public Interest called having Lunchables in cafeterias “a highly questionable move for school nutrition.” Then, Consumer Reports (CR) tested the products.

While the Lunchables were said to be tailored to meet school standards, CR found that they contained high levels of sodium—even higher than those kits found in the grocery store, as well as potentially troubling levels of phthalates and heavy metals. CR said the products contained between 460 to 740 milligrams per serving, or “nearly a quarter to half of a child’s daily recommended limit for sodium.” Amy Keating, a dietician for CR, explained that Lunchables are “highly processed” and that processed meat “has been linked to an increased risk of some cancers.”  

Guidelines for the NSLP must meet federal guidelines, which are always evolving. There are requirements on things like the percentage of whole grains a meal must be, and caps on sugar and sodium (which depend on age/grade). 

For grades K-5, breakfast must contain less than 540 mg of sodium, and lunch should contain less than 1,110 mg. The turkey and cheddar school versions of Lunchables contained 930 milligrams of sodium, putting it at the high end of the guideline’s range, compared to 740 milligrams in the store-bought version. School lunches must also be “whole-grain rich,” meaning products served have to have at least 50% whole grains for 80% of the meal. The standard turkey and cheese Lunchable, not designed for schools, has 13 grams of protein, while the school version has 16. Similarly, the standard extra cheesy pizza has 14 grams but the school version has 19. Kraft Heinz said it added extra whole grains to the school Lunchables so that it “meets whole-grain-rich criteria” of the NSLP. 

The biggest complaints about the meals seemed to be the concerns with processed meat, high sodium levels, and the fact that they contain heavy metals like lead and cadmium. Cadmium has been linked to liver and bone disease. While the levels didn’t exceed the federal limit for school meals, there is no safe level of the heavy metal, according to the World Health Organization. 

Kraft Heinz said that the decision to remove the lunch-time snack from schools had nothing to do with the criticism, but rather demand—or lack thereof. “While many school administrators were excited to have these options, the demand did not meet our targets,” Kraft Heinz said in a statement emailed to Fast Company. “This happens occasionally across our broad portfolio, especially as we explore new sales channels. Lunchables products are not available in schools this year and we hope to revisit at a future date.”

Consumer Reports is now applauding the move. “Lunchables and other lunch kits with concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals have no place on the school lunch menu,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, stated on Tuesday. “We’re pleased that Heinz Kraft has pulled Lunchables from the school lunch program.” 

While all school meals have to meet federal guidelines, the quality of those meals vary from state to state and from neighborhood to neighborhood. But logs of popular food items that are common in many lunchrooms across the country shows that a non-Lunchable turkey and cheese lunch meal has 1,038 mg of sodium —putting it at the top of the federal guidelines. The same chart shows the classic school pepperoni pizzas containing 1,130 of sodium, slightly over the threshold.

The NSLP is  the second-largest food-assistance program (behind SNAP) in the U.S., serving 30 million children a year. According to the program’s fact sheet, it’s available in all states and “the vast majority of schools” participate in it. It’s unclear how many schools were serving the school-friendly Lunchables.