Kraft Singles gets nutrition seal from U.S. dietitian group

It's a taste that's hard to describe: bland, with a texture that's both mushy and strangely smooth. Vaguely, but only vaguely, reminiscent of cheese. 

Kraft Singles are all of the above, and less. And yet, thanks to the U.S. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, parents may be stocking up on the pasteurized processed cheese product. 

This week, Kraft Singles are the first product to get the group's "Kids Eat Right" seal on its packaging.

The decision outraged many dietitians, including Andy Bellatti, who belongs to the group Dietitians for Professional Integrity.

"The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics went for one of the most possibly controversial and poor [food] choices they could have gone for," Bellatti tells As It Happens host Carol Off.

"[Kraft Singles are] not very nutritional in the sense that it is a highly-processed product, and as a result, it is pretty high in sodium," he continues. "The fact that it has certain nutrients like vitamin D or calcium, which comes up in the Academy's press release about this, really borders on 'nutritionism,' where you try to argue that a food is healthy just because it has one or two nutrients."

In an email statement to The New York Times, the Academy's executive director Mary Beth Whalen strongly denied it was endorsing Kraft Singles with its label: "The Kids Eat Right logo on Kraft Singles packaging identifies the brand as a proud supporter of Kids Eat Right... It also serves to drive broader visibility to KidsEatRight.org, a trusted educational resource for consumers."

Currently, there is a petition circulating from dietitians asking the Academy to remove its logo from Kraft Singles packaging.

Bellatti supports the petition, but worries that the damage may already be done: "These kinds of controversies and partnerships, and backlash from media and dietitians, all it really does is denigrate the credential that tens of thousands of dietitians have worked so hard to get."