This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Have you ever really looked at the ingredients in store-bought shredded cheese? There’s a good chance that it has wood pulp in it, along with other sources of extra carbs. In today’s Love it, Like it, Hate it segment, we’re Getting the Skinny with Molly on best & worst bets of shredded cheeses on shelves!

 

Wood Pulp?? Cellulose is a very common ingredient in foods, used to add bulk and texture. It’s also a standard anti-caking/anti-clumping ingredient used in shredded cheese. Cellulose is a plant fiber; one of the most common sources is wood pulp. It’s safe, although may seem weird. Like many other types of fibers, it simply passes through our GI tract unabsorbed.

 

LOVE IT!

Shred your own with Cabot Sharp Light Cheese

  • Better flavor, texture, and definitely better meltability than most pre-shredded cheeses
  • Ingredients: Fresh pasteurized lowfat milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, vitamin A palmitate
  • Per ounce (approx. ¼ cup shredded): 70 calories – 3 grams sat fat – 170 mg sodium – <1 gram carb – 0 fiber – 8 grams protein

Whole Foods 365 Shredded 3 Cheese Blend

  • Ingredients: Part-skim milk, salt, microbial and animal enzymes
  • Per tablespoon: 20 calories – 1 gram sat fat – 30 mg sodium – 0 carb – 0 fiber – 1 gram protein

 

LIKE IT!

Kraft 2% Shredded Cheese

  • Ingredients: reduced-fat cheddar cheese (part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, annatto (color) plus calcium sulfate, potato starch, cellulose powder, and calcium sulfate (anti-caking), natamycin
  • Natamycyin is a mold inhibitor that’s banned by Whole Foods but regarded as safe by other government + health watchdog groups. Part of the concern is that it could potentially lead to resistance to topical anti-fungal medications, but there is no evidence to support that normal amounts consumed would lead to resistance.
  • Per ¼ cup: 80 calories – 3.5 grams sat fat – 220 mg sodium – <1 gram carb – 0 fiber – 7 grams protein

 

 

 

HATE IT!

High Kraft Shredded Cheese

Starchy add-ins + high in saturated fat

  • Ingredients include: cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, annatto (color) plus calcium sulfate, potato starch, cellulose powder, and calcium sulfate (anti-caking), natamycin
  • Per ¼ cup: 110 calories – 6 grams sat fat – 170 mg sodium – 1 gram carb – 0 fiber – 6 grams protein

 

Borden Shredded Cheese

Starchy add-ins + high in saturated fat

  • Ingredients include: pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, plus potato starch, corn starch, calcium sulfate (prevent caking)
  • Per ¼ cup: 110 calories – 6 grams sat fat – 180 mg sodium – 1 gram carb – 0 fiber – 7 grams protein

 

Velveeta Shreds

Starchy add-ins + higher in carbs

  • Ingredients include: milk, whey, milk protein concentrate, modified food starch, gelatin, milkfat, sodium phosphate (typically used as emulsifier/stabilizer), salt, maltodextrin, lactic acid, sodium alginate, sorbic acid (preservative), cheese culture, enzymes, apocartotenal (color), potato starch, cellulose powder (anti-caking), calcium sulfate (anti-caking)
  • Per ¼ cup: 60 calories – 2 grams sat fat – 460 mg sodium – 3 grams carbs – 1 gram fiber – 5 grams protein

 

###

Want more from Molly?  Click here to sign up for Nutrition Bites, her weekly e-newsletter with links to her Get the Skinny TV segments here on WGNO, and her weekly column in NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune!  And you can follow Molly on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram:  @MollyKimballRD