Kraft Heinz removes Lunchables from school meals program

Kraft Heinz is pulling Lunchables — prepackaged boxes of deli meat, cheese and crackers — from the program that provides free and discounted meals to about 30 million low-income school children, the food conglomerate said on Tuesday.

Consumer Reports applauded the move, months after the advocacy group sounded alarms about the product popular with kids, saying its tests found troubling levels of lead and sodium in them.

"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 after lower than expected demand from school districts across the country." 

In an Oct. 30 earnings call, Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera called Lunchables a "very important" part of the company's business, while noting what he described as "misleading" negative publicity regarding the product.  

Kraft Heinz changed two of its Lunchables — Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchables — to qualify for the USDA-run program. Sales of those two products were less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales, so the business impact is negligible, according to the company. 

In a statement emailed to CBS MoneyWatch, Kraft Heinz said demand for Lunchables from school districts across the country did not meet its targets. "Lunchables products are not available in schools this year, and we hope to revisit at a future date," the company said.