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Parmesan cheese you sprinkle on pasta may contain wood pulp

B

borosp1

Senior member
The problem with big food companies where profit is number 1 motive they will do anything regardless of damage to humans to generate 1 more dollar than there competitors. It seems like you cannot buy any food in the grocery store and believe what is on the label whether it is Olive Oils, Cheese, meets, etc...

Some companies that promise 100% parmesan cheese, have been adding cellulose, a common food additive made from wood pulp, to their cheese products, according to an independent study, launched by Bloomberg News.

An independent laboratory test found that products like Walmart store's Great Value 100% grated parmesan cheese registered 7.8% cellulose, Jewel-Osco’s Essential Everyday 100% parmesan cheese was 8.8% cellulose and Kraft had 3.8% cellulose, Bloomberg reported.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/money...prinkle-pasta-may-contain-wood-pulp/80508440/

and another article about 80% of Italian extra virgin olive oil sold in the U.S. is fake:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/cecilia...-fake-why-do-you-keep-buying-it/#6cc5b7d75e0c
 
It's not just a problem with big food companies. Lots of people are willing to rip off consumers if they think they can get away with it (e.g. herbal supplements, homeopathic "remedies", etc...)
 
No shit. It's been on the ingredients label as long as I've been able to read. Don't you know what cellulose is?
 
“The powdered cellulose in shredded cheese prevents the cheese from sticking together and getting oily,” Coupland said.
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This is the norm for prepackaged shredded cheese.

As TLC said, buy it in blocks and shred it yourself.
 
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DrPizza said:
No shit. It's been on the ingredients label as long as I've been able to read. Don't you know what cellulose is?
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I would think if it is marketed as 100% cheese, it should be close to 100%. If you don't label it as such, feel free to throw in the cellulose and other stuff to keep it from sticking.

Regardless, I prefer to buy it in blocks and shred it myself as needed.
 
PapaJohn's ingredient info about their pizzas, lists Cellulose in both the cheese and the dough. Clearly, fillers are cheaper.

McDonald's "milk" shakes used to, or possibly still do, have "micro-crystalline cellulose" in them.
 
DrPizza said:
No shit. It's been on the ingredients label as long as I've been able to read. Don't you know what cellulose is?
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So when the label says 100% Parmesan cheese I should expect 10% wood pulp or even other cheaper cheeses mixed in right and think I am getting the real deal?
 
borosp1 said:
The problem with big food companies where profit is number 1 motive they will do anything regardless of damage to humans to generate 1 more dollar than there competitors. It seems like you cannot buy any food in the grocery store and believe what is on the label whether it is Olive Oils, Cheese, meets, etc...
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Incidentally, you sound like one of those food nuts when you imply without any basis that the wood pulp causes damage to humans. It's fairly inert to humans. AFAIK, we cannot digest that cellulose.

Truth of the matter is, if they didn't put in something to keep it from clumping, ignorant consumers would be complaining that when they went to use their cheese, it was all clumped together. I'm not sure if there even exists pre-shredded or ground cheese on the market that doesn't have an agent added to prevent the cheese from all sticking together. I've worked in a pizza shop that shreds their own cheese fresh every day. As the day progresses, it gets more difficult to work with the cheese, because it starts clumping together more and more under its own weight.

borosp1 said:
So when the label says 100% Parmesan cheese I should expect 10% wood pulp or even other cheaper cheeses mixed in right and think I am getting the real deal?
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It means you should expect the cheese inside to all be Parmesan cheese, (though as far as I'm aware, technically, unless it was imported from a specific area in Europe, it isn't, since they claim the name, but for the most part, yeah, we're allowed to call the cheese made by that process with that strain of flora to be parmesan), and not some blend of cheeses. But, you should also expect that there's something in there coating those granules of cheese to prevent clumping.
 
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You should be happy it is there. Cellulose is probably the healthiest thing you ate that day. Most Americans are severely deficient on their fiber intake.
 
borosp1 said:
So when the label says 100% Parmesan cheese I should expect 10% wood pulp or even other cheaper cheeses mixed in right and think I am getting the real deal?
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Yes. Learn to read labels properly. The cheese in there is 100% parmesan cheese. That doesn't meant that the whole container is cheese though. The other ingredients are listed.

If I use true 100% provolone cheese on a home-made pizza that also contains dough, sauce and toppings, should I tell my guests that I used real 20% provolone cheese?
 
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If you read the labels of these crap shredded cheeses it will say 100% grated Parm. Then will list the other ingredients in the container including cellulose. Anyways people who buy kraft or other shredded parm cheese that sits on a shelf are the least likely to care about this anyways. They clearly dont give a crap about the quality of their parm.
 
If no one has mentioned.... you can just buy a piece of parm and shred it yourself.

But really... the only scam is you are eating something that passes straight through your body. No nutritional value. A lot of cellulose in a product may make you feel full but that is all you get. But this is nothing new.
 
rudder said:
No nutritional value. A lot of cellulose in a product may make you feel full but that is all you get.
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Fiber helps with hemorrhoids, lowers bad cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, reduces inflammation, keeps blood sugar levels more constant, aids in weight loss, reduces rates of cancer, helps with IBS, significantly lowers risk of stroke (about 1% lower risk per gram of fiber per day), drops risk of heart disease (40% lower risk for those on a high fiber diet), and may help with gallstones and kidney stones.

That is what you call no nutritional value, and that being full is all you get?
 
DrPizza said:
Don't you know what cellulose is?
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Based on relational attempts at guessing, it'd imagine it's an offshoot of cellulite. Cheese fat?

No, really, that would have been my guess. Until I read this topic I may have seen the name somewhere before but otherwise never heard of or known about it. Especially not a single fact or detail.

When you ask "Don't you know what cellulose is?" the answer is a strong "Hell no!"
Betting almost all Americans are in the same boat. 5 years from now I'm expecting not to remember this topic.


This topic has a problem. A sort of apples VS oranges problem.

rudder said:
But really... the only scam is you are eating something that passes straight through your body. No nutritional value.
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dullard said:
Fiber helps with...
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I'm guessing cellulose is not useful fiber if it "passes undigested".
 
Anyone past middle school, maybe elementary school, should know what cellulose is...
Also your guess is wrong. 🙁
It is the very fact that is is mostly indigestible that is helpful.

You might know it as part of another term: "dietary fiber".
 
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LMAO!!!! I guess I wasn't far off when I referred to Parmesan cheese in container as being sawdust.

I prefer to shred my own Parmesan cheese.
 
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