Hi all, I just sat in on Dr. Neal Barnard's presentation on CHEESE. Wow. Here's a very BRIEF recap:
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How cheese is made (did you know cheese is made with bacterial cultures, one specifically called Brevibacterium - which is the bacteria found between human toes? So you shouldn't be surprised if your cheese smells like stinky feet!) Enzymes are added which causes solids to clump together. The whey protein is drained off, then SALT is added to prevent the bacteria from growing further.- Americans are now eating about 35 pounds of cheese per person per year. That's 65,000 calories, and over 5200 grams of fat. In one year.
- Cheese is 70% fat, and the highest source of saturated fat in the American diet.
Here's where the government comes in:
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- Several years ago, the US Government and the Dairy Industry held a forum to figure out how to market more cheese. The idea was to determine what triggered cheese cravings, and Dr. Barnard showed the actual slides that were used at the forum (cheese eaters were divided into "Cravers" or "Enhancers").
- So the Government worked with Wendy's in order to promote the Cheddar Lovers Bacon Cheeseburger, who successfully sold 2.25 million pounds of cheese during that campaign. That's 380 tons of fat and 1.2 tons of cholesterol.
- They also worked with Subway (The Chicken Cordon Bleu and the Honey Pepper Melt), with Taco Bell, Burger King, and Pizza Hut (the Ultimate Cheese Pizza, with 1 pound of cheese in ONE serving!)
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The same group in charge of the US Dietary Recommendations (who claim that people consume far too much saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium) is the same government group working behind the scenes to promote more cheese! I bet the $140 million per year the government accepts from the cheese industry has something to do with it.
Think about this the next time you see a fast food commercial featuring cheese - because millions of taxpayer dollars are used to promote these unhealthy foods.
Read more on Dr. Barnard's blog titled the Five Frightful Facts About Cheese.