Is that parmesan or wood pulp?

The FDA recently posted a warning to consumers: many store brands of grated parmesan cheese are not 100% parmesan, as their labels proclaim. Some of them are up to 20% wood pulp.

In fact, some so-called "parmesan" cheeses contain no actual cheese at all. (But lots of wood pulp.)

It all began back in 2012, when the FDA received an anonymous tip. They raided the Castle Cheese factory in Pennsylvania and found that exactly zero percent of the Market Pantry brand "100% Parmesan Cheese" sold at Target was made of parmesan cheese. It turned out to be an amalgamation of Swiss, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, and cellulose (a.k.a. wood pulp).

Anonymous industry executives have been quoted as saying that some grated parmesan cheese brands can be up to 20% wood pulp. A small amount of cellulose is considered acceptable in grated cheese, 2 to 40 percent, to help keep it from clumping. But 20%? No.

The best way to ensure you are getting the cheese you want is to buy a chunk of parmesan, and grate it yourself. It's easy to do, and it's so much more delicious than the stuff in the plastic canister!