Annie's.

Annie Withey co-founded the company in 1989 in Hampton, Connecticut, with Andrew Martin, who had previously co-founded Smartfood popcorn. The founding premise was concrete: offer an organic macaroni and cheese that didn't use the artificial dyes, processed cheese product, and synthetic additives that defined Kraft — the dominant product in the category.

Early customers ordered it by the case. Withey's personal phone number was printed on every box. She answered the calls. This wasn't a marketing stunt — at the time, there was no marketing budget. The phone number was how a small-producer connected with her actual customers. It became the defining artifact of the brand's identity: a real person, a real mission, accountability on the packaging itself.

By the late 1990s, Withey had stepped back from daily operations. In 1999, investor John Foraker's company invested $2 million, acquiring Withey and Martin's shares and making Annie's a private company. Withey became "inspirational president" — the face remained, the operational control did not.

In September 2024, General Mills reformulated Annie's Shells & White Cheddar, Classic Cheddar, and Shells & Aged Cheddar lines. The relaunch packaging declared the recipe "Now Cheesier." The press release called it a "delightful upgrade."

Consumer advocacy site Mouse Print compared the old and new ingredient lists side by side. What it found: the fourth and fifth ingredients in the old recipe — butter and nonfat milk — had been removed. They were replaced with corn starch, a thickener that contains no protein and no meaningful dairy nutrition. This is what General Mills did not highlight in its press release.

Food science consultant Renee Leber, when asked by Retail Brew to review both recipes, noted that removing butter and nonfat milk while adding corn starch — while increasing cheese by a smaller percentage — "might have gone to a less expensive formulation." General Mills addressed none of the specific questions posed to them. Their written response: "We're always looking for ways to ensure our products deliver on the taste and quality our consumers want."

Sales data from Circana shows Annie's revenue was up 2% in the 52 weeks ending April 2025 — ahead of the overall mac and cheese category. The recipe change has not, so far, hurt revenues. For comparison: after a similar skimpflation backlash against Smart Balance (Conagra's butter spread, water ratio doubled in 2022), Conagra reverted to the original recipe within months. General Mills has made no such commitment for Annie's.

In 2017, a report commissioned by health advocacy groups tested 30 cheese products — 10 of them mac & cheese powder varieties. Twenty-nine of the 30 tested positive for phthalates. Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastics flexible; they enter food supply chains through processing equipment, conveyor belts, and packaging materials. The cheese powders tested — including organic products — had phthalate levels four times higher than natural cheeses.

Annie's confirmed on its FAQ page that its products contained phthalates. The company was transparent enough to put this on its website. What it did not do was put it on the packaging — the one place every consumer looks before purchase.

The lawsuit allegation is precise: General Mills knew its products contained phthalates, disclosed this in a FAQ section on its website, and did not disclose it on the packaging where consumers actually make purchase decisions. The plaintiffs allege this constitutes deceptive omission under New York consumer protection law and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

Annie's issued a pledge in 2021 to work with suppliers to eliminate phthalates from "packaging materials and food processing equipment." This is a supply chain commitment — not a timeline, not a verification protocol, not a third-party audit. No date for completion was given. No follow-up testing results have been published. As of February 2026, the FAQ page language from 2021 remains on Annie's website largely unchanged.

Clarity about the acquisition and the recipe change does not require pretending the product is equivalent to Kraft. Annie's organic mac & cheese is still meaningfully different from Kraft Original in ways that matter to the consumers buying it.

The pasta uses organic wheat flour. The cheese powder uses real cheddar without synthetic dyes. There is no Yellow 5 or Yellow 6 — the artificial colorants that give Kraft its characteristic bright orange. The sodium content, while not low, is comparable to Kraft's. The organic certification is legitimate, third-party audited, and renewed annually. No FDA enforcement actions for false labeling have been taken against Annie's products.

The green score on Scientific Backing reflects that Annie's makes no fabricated health claims and no clinical endorsements. It is honest about what it is: an organic convenience food. The green score on Revenue Model reflects that this is a straightforward retail purchase — no subscription, no DTC lock-in, no predatory pricing structure.

Banza Mac & Cheese uses chickpea pasta, delivers higher protein than Annie's current recipe, and was operationally independent as of 2024 (acquired by a consumer fund, maintained independent operations). If protein content matters to you — which it did when you bought Annie's original recipe — Banza is now the stronger nutritional option in the boxed mac category.

Homemade remains the most transparent option: organic pasta plus a real aged cheddar, milk, and butter produces five recognizable ingredients, no powder, and roughly the same cost per serving as a box of Annie's. It's not instant, but it's the version where you control exactly what went in — and nothing was quietly removed.

If you're still buying Annie's: the organic certification is real and the product is genuinely cleaner than Kraft. The information above exists so you can make that choice knowing who you're buying it from and what changed in the formula in September 2024.