‘WOOD’ you like some wood pulp with that shredded cheese for your taco?
The latest controversy in food is not a food at all. It’s wood pulp – aka cellulose – and it might be in your shredded cheese.
What to know and what to do:
Recently, a story gathered steam after Bloomberg News broke the news that several brands of shredded cheese contained cellulose (from powdered wood pulp) in brands labeled 100% Parmesan or well above the approved levels by the FDA. And now lawsuits have been filed.
Why is it allowed at all?
Cellulose is a common additive that helps prevent clumping in commercially shredded cheeses as well as other foods, and research has shown that it’s not harmful to human health. As a bonus, it boosts fiber in a food and is also used to help maintain creaminess, stability and texture when fat is reduced from its whole fat counterparts (such as ice cream and other ready-to-eat foods). The FDA has set limits on the amount that is allowed.
Want the creaminess of real cream in a lower fat ice cream, sour cream, yogurt or creamer? Hurray for cellulose, one thinks? Not so fast.
What is cellulose? Does it always come from wood pulp?
Cellulose, botanically/technically, makes up the fibrous tissue of many kinds of plants including vegetables and some fruits. The question is then what source this is cellulose come from… If cellulose is added simply as a filler, a flag should go up.
Maybe it’s not inherently bad to have cellulose in a food, but it is important to check it out further. If indeed it comes from an otherwise inedible plant (thus, wood pulp), then yes, I think we should consider a different clean eating and real alternatives.
Some food manufacturers add cellulose to boost fiber levels, which may not be a necessarily bad pursuit in some instances, but it is most used to simply add bulk and volume or to provide a quality like anti-clumping or creaminess. This instantly makes it less of a clean food/product. And let’s think about this a bit more: even if a certain form of cellulose, or any additive for that matter, is not technically harmful, it doesn’t mean that it makes it good or desirable either.
The thing is, the cellulose that’s added to a lot of foods doesn’t come from other vegetables. Instead it comes from a fairly simple process of extracting the cellulose from wood pulp. While the FDA does set limits on how much cellulose can be in a food deeming it a ‘safe additive’, and there isn’t good research that it actually causes harm, it still doesn’t make it something to overlook.
And if you think you’re automatically safe from this issue if you choose organic, think again. Some organic brands have been known to use cellulose in this form, and cellulose is considered to be ‘natural’ by the foggy defining terms of the still-alluring natural label today.
Even if it doesn’t cause harm, it doesn’t mean that we ‘should’ eat it.
Here are 6 simple strategies for eliminating or at least mostly reducing it from your diet:
- Eat and cook with whole foods. This is the most straightforward way to ensure there’s not wood pulp added to your home-prepped plate!
- Read ingredient lists. If you see cellulose listed, there’s a pretty solid chance it’s from powdered wood pulp.
- Shred your own cheese (in other words, don’t buy shredded cheese). Invest in a good box grater or hand-held grater. It’s really easy to grate your own cheese in advance and store it in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for all your typical uses. You’ll probably save money, too.
- The most likely cheeses to have fillers like wood pulp are the hard Italian varieties (not necessarily from Italy but kinds originally from Italy like Parmesan) because they are more expensive to make and yield less. And a tip to know if Parmesan is real: make sure the rind says “Parmigiano-Reggiano” in print.
- If you do want to buy shredded or grated cheese, look for companies from the U.S. or abroad with a solid reputation and again, read those labels.
- Other foods: Take a hard look at the label if you are considering a lower fat alternative to a typically higher fat food, particularly dairy. Pay close attention to ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt and non-dairy creamers.
It’s true that cellulose may not be harmful, but how about this approach: limit or avoid the added wood pulp, and instead, get your cellulose through foods that don’t require an ingredient list. Eat vegetables and other plant foods that naturally contain it.
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