Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Kraft Heinz, a prominent food and beverage manufacturer, made a significant announcement on Tuesday regarding its Lunchables meals for U.S. schools. The company, known for its wide array of beloved products, including Capri Sun juice pouches and Oscar Meyer hot dogs, revealed that it has discontinued serving the Lunchables meals that were specifically created for school cafeterias.
This decision comes after Kraft Heinz introduced two new packaged Lunchables meals, featuring pizza and a turkey, cheddar cheese, and cracker plate, at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. While the offerings were designed to be protein-enriched and have reduced levels of saturated fat and sodium to align with the requirements of the national free and reduced-price school lunch program, they faced criticism from nutritionists and advocacy groups.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest expressed concerns, labeling the presence of Lunchables in school cafeterias as a questionable move for school nutrition. Additionally, Consumer Reports raised alarms in April after tests revealed that the school-approved Lunchables contained higher sodium levels than the store-bought versions and more lead compared to ready-made meals from other companies.
In response to mounting pressure, Consumer Reports petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit the serving of Lunchables and similar processed meal kits in schools. Kraft Heinz, based in Pittsburgh, attributed its decision to withdraw from the market served by the National School Lunch Program to a lack of demand, stating that sales of the school-designed meals accounted for less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales in the last academic year.
In a company statement, Kraft Heinz acknowledged the discrepancy between the anticipated demand for the school-approved Lunchables options and the actual sales figures. Despite the temporary discontinuation of Lunchables products in schools, the company expressed openness to revisiting the idea in the future as it continues to explore new sales channels.
