“A new study of 30 cheese products has detected phthalates in all but one of the samples tested,” the story continues, explaining that phthalates are chemicals that “can disrupt male hormones like testosterone and have been linked to genital birth defects in infant boys and learning and behavior problems in older children.”

According to the group that distributed the report, nine of the products tested were of the Kraft variety, eight of which contained phthalates.

Katie Martin / The Atlantic

I was scared too, as an occasional non-child consumer. Some nights I justify it in that it’s cheap and fast, and I make it with olive oil instead of butter, which Kraft purists will say is sacrilegious. I know it’s not substantially healthier that way, but we tell ourselves stories to get by.

Of course the darker part of me knows I eat it because I want to eat it, because of the sodium and the white pasta-starch that becomes sugar in my veins, and also because of the nostalgic comfort in the ritual of making and eating it. Those blue and yellow boxes signified the food of my Midwestern childhood. I am not alone in this. Every year Kraft alone sells something like 300 million boxes of their signature product. The gas stations that dot rural America define their grocery sections by its presence. Expect to find Campbell’s soup, graham crackers, probably marshmallows, and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

So it’s big news when the paper of record tells us this is toxic. Especially that it’s toxic to kids, and to pregnant women, and that the powdered cheese may affect sexualization of fetuses in a way that might even hypothetically account for what some people say is a feminized generation of American males. And not just Kraft but “many common brands.” The only other common brand is Annie’s, but it remains undisclosed whether Annie’s products were tested.

I’ll give you the nut here in case you don’t want to read all 2,000 words on powdered cheese. Phthalates are probably a problem in our food system, but macaroni and cheese is not a unique problem, and if it’s one of the few highly processed foods that you eat, risk of phthalate toxicity is as close to zero as possible.

Some research has found that high phthalate exposure can have negative health effects—for example, some people with high levels in their bodies have increased rates of hypertension and insulin resistance—but never has a case of phthalate toxicity been linked specifically to eating macaroni and cheese.

The mac-and-cheese analysis described in the Times story looked for phthalates in processed cheeses, and it found them. It reported absolute levels—e.g. 940 micrograms of phthalates per kilogram of powdered cheese. What does that mean? How much of it stays in my body? How much macaroni would I have to eat to put myself at risk? Even though these questions are unaddressed, the conclusion of the report makes a huge leap: “Action should be taken to eliminate phthalates in any food products.”