The Parmesan Cheese You Sprinkle on Your Penne Could Be Wood

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kleenex

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The Parmesan Cheese You Sprinkle on Your Penne Could Be Wood - Bloomberg Business

From link:

Cellulose is a safe additive, and an acceptable level is 2 percent to 4 percent, according to Dean Sommer, a cheese technologist at the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin. Essential Everyday 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, was 8.8 percent cellulose, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Great Value 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese registered 7.8 percent, according to test results. Whole Foods 365 brand didn’t list cellulose as an ingredient on the label, but still tested at 0.3 percent. Kraft had 3.8 percent.
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Disgraceful! Well, clearly, to claim 100% purity when it is not is a breach of advertising.

At least the FDA are on to it and are cracking down on this now so, hopefully, it will soon get sorted.
 
It's certainly disgraceful when the packaging lies. I think that is the issue with what has been reported in the media recently. The biggie No-no came when a company tried selling as 100% Parmesan a product that According to the FDA’s report on Castle, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, “no parmesan cheese was used to manufacture” the Market Pantry brand 100% grated Parmesan Cheese... (from the linked Bloomberg article)

Another disgraceful fact, at least here in the US with the televised reports, whenever they mention cellulose in cheese, they have ALWAYS shown a wheel of fresh cheese as someone reads copy over the image or video. To the best of my knowledge and googling powers, the cellulose or potato starch is added to grated cheese during/after the grating process to keep the cheese fluffy and prevent it from forming into clumps. IF shoppers actually read labels, they would have been aware that some amount of cellulose would have been present in their green (or whatever color) cardboard, shaker-topped tube of grated cheese score and decades ago. It's been added to cheese for longer than I've been married (41 years), and is one reason I'm unable to think of the last time we had one of those cans in our house. Maybe when our now-35 year old kids were young? I know Himself and I have been grating fresh cheese off a block for decades. So much better, and fun to watch it get all melty. :yum:
 
Ditto, CG ;) We've been buying chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for quite a long time, too. It really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that it's in there, although I guess in some cases the amounts are out of line.
 
Sorry but why not buy a real chunk of cheese and grate it yourself OR pick out a chunk and ask them to grate it for you. I have tried can/box cheese and it tastes like sweet saw dust to me. Even the Trader Joe's I tried because my DD want it tasted nasty to me. Sorry but if you buy pre-grated can/box cheese you don't know what your getting. I have used can cheese years ago and in the long run buying a chunk is cheaper because using a microplane gives you a lot of grated fresh cheese from a small chunk. I apologize if I have offended anyone.
 
Not everyone is as knowledgeable about food as people who hang out on a food discussion forum. When it says "100% Parmesan Cheese" on the label, people believe it; marketing works. And while it ends up being worth it, the upfront price can seem too expensive to people.
 
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Right, GG, but the idea of Caveat Emptor has been around for how many centuries? As far as I'm concerned, whether you are a foodie or not should not matter. It's on the consumer, no matter what they are buying, to do their due diligence before parting with hard-earned cash. There are times when no matter how much you check around, you still get stung (I'm looking at YOU, my LG refrigerator :glare: ). But anyone who eats food should at least give a passing glance to all the stuff contained in any food they buy from those dreaded middle shelves in a grocery store. :LOL: Sometimes a manufacturer will lie, like in the original issue with Castle Cheese's unParmesan, but those who claim to never have heard that grated cheese has some sort of drying agent to keep it fluffy have no one to blame but themselves.
 
Well, again - marketing works. I wrote a paper about the psychological aspects of it in college. My own husband used to argue with me about the cost of real imported Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, until I pointed these things out to him, and he has a master's in education.

Let me ask you. How diligent are you about making sure your electronic devices are up to date with their operating system fixes, antivirus software and backups? I saw your eyes glaze over ;) And I mean you, not Himself.

Many people simply don't look past the big colorful words on the fronts of the pretty boxes. They're not interested. There's a big difference between what they should do and what they actually do, and what we think about it won't change that.
 
GotGarlic said:
Well, again - marketing works. I wrote a paper about the psychological aspects of it in college. My own husband used to argue with me about the cost of real imported Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, until I pointed these things out to him, and he has a master's in education.

Let me ask you. How diligent are you about making sure your electronic devices are up to date with their operating system fixes, antivirus software and backups? I saw your eyes glaze over ;) And I mean you, not Himself.

Many people simply don't look past the big colorful words on the fronts of the pretty boxes. They're not interested. There's a big difference between what they should do and what they actually do, and what we think about it won't change that.
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I do regular updates on everything and back up to an external drive.
 
We always buy of the wedges or the blocks of parmesan and romano cheeses and rub them of the grater. It does taste of much better, yes?

Love,
~Cat
 
Cat, that fresh-grated cheese sure does taste good. :yum: Isn't that one of the best reasons for good eating?

I know marketing works, GG. Especially visual rather than written words. Centuries ago (well, during the last one) I took an Advertising class at (the now defunct) Cooper School of Art. My instructor liked my classwork. One sample he especially liked was an anti-suicide poster, another was something you need to hear about via PM. :ohmy: ;)
GotGarlic said:
...Let me ask you. How diligent are you about making sure your electronic devices are up to date with their operating system fixes, antivirus software and backups? I saw your eyes glaze over ;) And I mean you, not Himself...
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But. But. That's exactly why I hang on to Himself! :ROFLMAO: Trust me, if I didn't have him to pass my IT stuff off to, I'd work quickly to learn an awful lot of tech stuff myself. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Now you have to ask me how varied and nutritious his meals would be if I wasn't the one cooking. ;)
 
Cooking Goddess said:
I know marketing works, GG. Especially visual rather than written words. Centuries ago (well, during the last one) I took an Advertising class at (the now defunct) Cooper School of Art. My instructor liked my classwork. One sample he especially liked was an anti-suicide poster, another was something you need to hear about via PM. :ohmy: ;)

But. But. That's exactly why I hang on to Himself! :ROFLMAO: Trust me, if I didn't have him to pass my IT stuff off to, I'd work quickly to learn an awful lot of tech stuff myself. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Now you have to ask me how varied and nutritious his meals would be if I wasn't the one cooking. ;)
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I know, right?! I don't know how our bills would get paid if something happened to DH! :ROFLMAO: Actually, I do, but I hate it.

There are lots of things I think people should do. The world would be so much better if only they would listen to me! :cool: :LOL:

Ooh, I want to hear about your advertising class work. Sounds intriguing.
 
I've heard Chef John say a couple of times that shredded cheese has wood in it to prevent it from clumping. That's why he encourages people to grate their cheese. I figure if it hasn't killed me by now, it's probably not going to in the near future..........
 
I was in the grocery store yesterday afternoon. This woman in line before me had a green can. She didn't have enough money for her other items and the green can, so she told the cashier she didn't want it. The cashier tossed it in a basket to go back. I casually mentioned the woman made a good choice, as I wouldn't want it either. She asked me why. I told her that besides using fillers, what did she think made the crap in the can shelf stable with out refrigeration. :shock:
 
CraigC said:
I was in the grocery store yesterday afternoon. This woman in line before me had a green can. She didn't have enough money for her other items and the green can, so she told the cashier she didn't want it. The cashier tossed it in a basket to go back. I casually mentioned the woman made a good choice, as I wouldn't want it either. She asked me why. I told her that besides using fillers, what did she think made the crap in the can shelf stable with out refrigeration. :shock:
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:LOL::ROFLMAO::angel:
 
I haven't bought cheese in the green can in years and years. 30 maybe. For some reason I thought there had to be something in it to keep it from clumping and that "something" probably wasn't something I was interested in ingesting.

I, too, grate our cheese. Too easy not to.
 
Those can/bottle grated cheeses (even TJ's) taste like they add a lot of sugar to it. AND they don't melt as good as fresh grated either.
 
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