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This ingredient might make you want to never buy a package of shredded cheese at the store again.
In 2016, former Castle Cheese executive Michelle Myrter was sentenced to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine for her role in mislabeling cellulose, also described as “wood pulp,” in packages sold and marketed to customers as “parmesan.”
The problem is that cellulose is still used in many food products today because it is a legal food additive. Almost everything labeled as “containing added fiber” contains this ingredient, which the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) allows in cheese products, but only up to 4%.
“You’d have to eat a lot of cheese for the cellulose to do anything to you,” says Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the Center for Food Safety. “Most consumers don’t realize this, but cellulose is in all sorts of foods, like cereal. In fact, anything that’s labeled ‘added fiber’ probably has cellulose in it.”
Introduced in 197In the 1980s, cellulose became popular as more consumers expressed interest in adopting a higher fiber lifestyle.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily harmful, of all the additives out there. It’s just a cheap way to make a product look healthier than it is,” Hanson said. “But you probably want to get your fiber from whole wheat rather than whole wood.”
Additionally, it has also been reported that the cellulose gel used in grated cheese products has been used as a substitute for fat in dairy products to “provide the expected texture and creamy mouthfeel in reduced-fat foods.”
The effect on cheese, however, is not the same. Instead, consumers may notice that their grated cheese products sometimes have a powdery texture, due to the “wood pulp” that makes up the ingredient.
The problem, Hanson says, is that consumers are paying for what could be considered sawdust without even realizing it. “It’s really a form of consumer fraud. Sawdust is a lot cheaper than cheese. They’re adulterating the product, mislabeling it, and competing with companies that are doing it right.”
So what’s the alternative? Experts suggest turning back the clock by buying blocks of cheese that don’t contain cellulose and using a cheese grater to make your own grated cheese at home.
