Kraft Mac & Cheese is getting a healthier makeover. Bring it!

Let’s be real. There is no greater guilty pleasure (well OK – it’s at least on our Top 5) than ripping open that white packet of space food cheese, sprinkling it on top of a mountain of elbow noodles, and stirring in butter and milk. And, you know, eating all of it in one go because life is too short not to eat it all in one go. If mac ‘n cheese is one of your greatest joys in life (no shame!), we have some super awesome news for you: that cheesy bowl of mac is about to get a little more nutritious. Hooray!

On Monday, Kraft Foods Group announced that, starting in January 2016, their OG Mac & Cheese recipe would no longer contain artificial preservatives or synthetic colors. According to USA Today, “Kraft says it will replace synthetic colors — including Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 — with colors derived from natural sources such as paprika, annatto and turmeric.”

This healthier initiative is coming at a great time —more and more consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the food they’re consuming, especially food that has been notoriously outed as processed and made with artificial ingredients. And Kraft isn’t the only brand to re-think the quality of their food —companies like Nestle have also re-strategized the way they create their snack foods (and will be “purifying” over 250 kinds of products).

One of the biggest advocates of healthier food products is Food Babe (food blogger Vani Hari), who started the petition on Change.org, urging others to demand more nutritious food made with less (preferably no) harmful chemicals. Countless organizations (like the Center for Science and Public Interest) and journals have called out Kraft for the unhealthy makeup of their foods, pointing out that their meals could have a negative affect on people, especially children.

But Kraft claims that’s not what’s behind their healthier product push. The brand’s spokeswoman Lynne Galia told USA Today that Kraft has been working on the changes for “more than three years.”

Regardless of the incentive, we’re just happy that we’ll be soon be able to dig into a (healthier) bowl of Mac & Cheese .

Image via