Page 96 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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FOOD FRAUD

ears ago, I learned the saying in Parma, Italy, that the
farther away from the town you travel, the worse the
YParmigiano-Reggiano tastes. The cheese is a storied
delicacy first perfected in the 1200s. Over time, it has earned
a global status, easily garnering twenty dollars a pound.
Like Champagne from France, only the cheese produced in
designated parts of Italy can be considered true Parmigiano-
Reggiano, and it must be aged at least a year. Its similar-looking
cousin, Parmesan, whose trophy case is a bit more sparse, is
still by no means a cheap cheese in the United States. When
you age the Parmesan wheels, they dry (hence the desirable
grating texture and nutty taste), but that shrinks the yield and
affects manufacturers’ bottom lines.
So in 2012, it was disturbing and yet easy to understand
when news hit of a major Pennsylvania-based cheese producer
cutting its product labeled 100 percent real Parmesan with
cellulose. That’s an FDA-approved additive, made from wood
pulp, which is essentially what paper is made of. Sawdust,
some call it. What’s it doing on your pasta? For the pre-grated
kind sold in those little plastic tubs, it reduces clumping. And
it acts as a filler. (It’s also a common ingredient in processed
foods that have “added fiber.”) The manufacturer, Castle
Cheese, was investigated by the FDA, and it turned out that
none of the cheese was actually Parmesan. It was a blend of
imitation cheese and by-products of other cheeses like moz-
zarella and Swiss. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2014,
and its president, who pleaded guilty to criminal charges, was
given a large fine and potential jail time.

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