photo: Bellwether Farms

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 Cow’s milk is an amazing liquid with many compounds that can be processed into endless products such as butter, yogurt, and cheese. But how does milk become cheese?  And what are curds, whey, and rennet?

What is processed cheese?  And what exactly do we get when we eat the very popular Kraft Singles?

Read our three part miniseries to learn more.  In part 2, we’ll explain what processed cheese is. In part 3, we’ll look inside the label of Kraft Singles.

What you need to know:

1. The component of milk involved in cheese production is a soluble protein called casein.

2. The origin of the word cheese is most likely from the Latin caseus (hence casein), which was derived from an earlier word Kwat which means “to ferment, become sour”.

3. To begin the cheese making process, milk needs to be acidified, or in laymen’s terms, go sour. This can be accomplished by adding some starter bacteria such as Lactococci, Lactobacilli, or Streptococci to fresh milk.

4. The next step, called curdling, is aided by enzymes, which can be animal based (rennet) or plant based.

5. Rennet is an enzyme derived from the gut of young calves (yuk?!). It has been used in traditional cheese making for centuries, and is still common in central Europe. The rest of the world has switched to other enzymes.

6. The average American eats about 30 lbs. of cheese annually. France, the world leader, boasts 45 lbs. per person per year.

7. By the time the enzymes (rennet or others) have done their magic, the milk has transformed to creamy lumps called curds, and is dripping off a liquid called whey.

8. Whey contains lactose (milk sugar), vitamins, and minerals and a small amount of fat. Whey protein is derived from liquid whey and is used in many foods and supplements because it is easily absorbed by the human body.

9. Further curd processing and aging follow suit, until the desired cheese has been formed.

10. Fresh cheese, such as cottage, is not aged at all, and will usually spoil within days to a week.

11. Nutritionally, cheese has become an important part of our diet, providing protein and calcium in concentrated doses when compared with milk. Unfortunately, the saturated fat content in most cheese is very high as well.

12. Salt is an important part of cheesemaking, and not just for its flavor. Salt keeps cheese from spoiling, removes moisture from the curd, and firms up the texture. Some cheese is so salty it should be consumed like salt, as a condiment on top of a dish. Parmesan, anyone?

In part 2 of our miniseries, coming soon, we’ll talk about processed cheese.

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Or try Fooducate on the Web!

Here’s a fun brunch idea for a spring weekend – Yogurt Salad!

Yogurt is healthy. Raw veggies are too. Why not mix ‘em together and enjoy a hearty, healthy treat?

Yogurt Salad. 

Ingredients:

1 firm cucumber

1 tomato

1-2 fresh chives (bulb+stalk)

1 radish (optional)

1 container plain, lowfat yogurt (6-8 oz)

 Instructions:

Dice cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, and chives into small cubes.

Place in a bowl and add yogurt.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mix.

Notes:

1. You can use regular or greek yogurt, depending on the type of consistency you’re looking for. If you need more liquid, add an extra tomato.

2. Optionally add a dash of heart healthy olive oil.

3. Enjoy anytime of day with a freshly baked loaf of bread (whole wheat of course).

Got other clever uses for yogurt? Shoot away in the comments below…

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Finally in 2012, a Superbowl ad for food other than junk. Dannon presented its Oikos Greek Yogurt in a playful, sexy little clip featuring John Stamos and a pretty, albeit violent, partner. Will a 30 second spot for $3.5 million convince consumers to increase yogurt consumption? Will it help Dannon catch up to category leader Chobani?

According to Dannon: Dannon^® Oikos^® nonfat berry flavors beat Chobani^® 2 to 1 in a national taste test.

True or not, Dannon has plenty of work to do in order to beat Chobani. The latter is a brand that came out of nowhere 6 years ago and revolutionized the yogurt category. Chobani sold over 500 million dollars worth of product last year.

From a nutrition perspective, Greek yogurt has become a favorite of dietitians and dieters because of its high protein count compared to regular yogurt (twice as much).

So just how healthy is the Dannon Oikos Blueberry yogurt, non-fat that was featured in the commercial?

What you need to know:

A serving of yogurt is 130 calories and contains 12 grams of protein. While there is no shortage of protein in the American diet, many times it comes attached to lots of saturated fat (meats). Here the protein comes in a fat free package.

The yogurt also has 19 grams of sugar, but about 12 of those are naturally occurring sugars (called lactose) that are present in milk and other dairy products. the 7 additional grams (about 2 teaspoons) are from added sugar and the blueberries.

Here is the ingredient list:

Cultured grade a non fat milk, blueberries, water, sugar, fructose, contains less than 1%: of modified corn starch, natural flavor, carrageenan, carmine (for color), malic acid, potassium sorbate (to maintain freshness), vitamin D3.

Not bad, but not as short as the list for plain yogurt.  Once you add fruit to a yogurt, you need to make sure it won’t get too friendly with the yogurt and start unwanted chemical processes. That’s why malic acid and potassium sorbate are added.

Another question is with regards to the added natural flavor. Were you to buy a plain yogurt and too some fresh blueberries inside, you wouldn’t add a ny flavors aside from some sugar. So why is Oikos adding that here?

Last but not least, carmine. Don’t freak out, but it’s bug powder. Read more about it here. We think it’s way cooler than using artificial colorings.

Overall this yogurt is a decent choice, but if you really want to eat healthy, opt for plain yogurt and bring your own fresh fruit to the party.

What to do at the supermarket:

Choose the yogurt brand you like, but make sure to buy low fat or non fat versions. Best is to buy non-flavored yogurts and control the sweet level by adding your own touch of honey or scoop of diced fruit.

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This a guest blog post by Sharon Palmer, RD

Drive-thru hamburgers, microwavable pizza pockets and bags of chips—these are the foods that probably come to mind when you think of convenience. For busy people on the run, convenience usually means fast food fare, pop in the microwave processed foods, and grab and go packs—foods typically laden with calories, fat, refined carbs and sodium—and low in vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients.

But it’s time for a food attitude adjustment; convenience is not just limited to low-nutrient food choices. Plenty of healthy foods can be easily stored and whipped up in minutes in the time it would take you to pick up takeout.  The supermarket is home to a number of convenient whole foods that can help you turn out healthy meals in minutes; here are my top picks.

1. Fresh fruit. The world’s original “fast food”, fresh fruit such as apples, pears, bananas, peaches and oranges comes with natural grab and go packaging.
2. Bagged salad greens. Just toss a bag of pre-washed salad greens into your shopping cart and you’ve got a quick side salad for dinner. Or make salad your entrée by adding chopped cooked chicken, fresh vegetables and a splash of olive oil.

3. Fish fillets. Top an individually frozen fish fillet with herbs, garlic and lemon, throw it under the broiler, and serve it with a side of grains and salad for a quick, tasty meal.

4. Whole grains. Place whole grains such as quinoa, bulgur, brown rice and wheat berries into a rice cooker with water (according to package directions), push the button and walk away. Then toss the steamed grains with cooked lean meat, herbs, garlic, and chopped vegetables for a delicious, nutritious dinner.

5. Yogurt. Throw a cup of yogurt into a briefcase or enjoy it as an after-dinner treat.

6. Frozen vegetables. While there’s nothing better than fresh vegetables, if you’re in a rush just pop frozen vegetables into the microwave and you’ve got a healthy sidedish in a flash.

7. Canned beans. Rinse a can of beans to remove sodium by up to 36 percent and stir them into salads, sidedishes, soups, and stews.

8. Canned tomatoes. Stir a can of low-sodium tomatoes into pastas, soups, sauces, stews, and casseroles for fast comfort food.

9. Nuts. A handful of nuts like almonds, walnuts or peanuts makes a perfect nutrient-rich complement for lunch on the run.

10. Oatmeal. The perfect solution for breakfast; just pop it into the microwave and add milk, nuts and fruit.

Sharon Palmer is a registered dietitian and food and nutrition writer. Visit her website www.sharonpalmer.com

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A study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found a correlation between several bad habits and weight gain:

Within each 4-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lb (5th to 95th percentile, −4.1 to 12.4). On the basis of increased daily servings of individual dietary components, 4-year weight change was most strongly associated with the intake of

• potato chips (1.69 lb),
• potatoes (1.28 lb),
• sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb),
• unprocessed red meats (0.95 lb), and
• processed meats (0.93 lb)

There was an inverse association linked to the intake of

• vegetables (−0.22 lb),
• whole grains (−0.37 lb),
• fruits (−0.49 lb),
• nuts (−0.57 lb), and
• yogurt (−0.82 lb)

What you need to know:

What do these numbers mean? One could argue that eating potato chips means you’ll get fat. But it’s hard to prove causality in these types of studies. Perhaps the people eating chips and soda were less health conscious than those eating yogurt and veggies.

This brings up the issue of calorie quality vs. calorie quantity:

“For diet, conventional wisdom often recommends ‘everything in moderation,’ with a focus only on total calories consumed,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and lead author of the study. “Our results demonstrate that the quality of the diet — the types of food and beverages that one consumes — is strongly linked to weight gain.” read more at NEJM…

Finally, it’s interesting to note that potatoes (not just potato chips) are associated with weight gain. While potatoes in and of themselves are a healthy food, their main use in the American diet is as french fries.

What to do at the supermarket:

Remember this study when passing by the snack and beverage aisles…

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Sorry, the picture has been removed

at the request of the photographer

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We received this picture in an email from a pediatric dentist, after she read our post on the soft drink calorie commercial. Here is the accompanying text:

Hi Fooducate,

Attached is a picture of the mouth of a 4 year old kid !!!!!!!

He used to “love” sodas and juices. As you can see, the dangers of soft drinks are beyond calories! I moved from Italy some years ago to USA, and believe me, it is SHOCKING to see the way many people eat here. Adults can choose, but kids can’t. They depend on the knowledge of their parents, especially their mothers.

This kind of damage – we need to stop it. All the industries making billions of dollars by destroying the health of innocent kids. For me all these drink “products” are not food.. I call them “poisons”….

When I educate the mothers of my patients about the causes of their tooth decay, many of them cry, since they truly believed that the juices and drinks they saw advertised (with supplements of vitamins, minerals, etc) are healthy for their children.

As you can imagine, when a kid has a mouth like this (I cannot imagine the pain), they can’t chew, so the only thing that they can do – tragic solution – is drink to avoid more pain! So they drink more juice. Can you believe how tragic the situation is? For me, it is like you are putting gasoline to the fire, thinking that you will stop it.

Some juices and soft drinks have a pH around 2.30 whereas our pH in balance will be around 7.00. When I explain to parents that the battery acid (for a car) is 1.00, and they are serving their children liquids with a very close percentage of acidity (plus in some cases 12 tsp os sugars in a 12 oz drink) they are without words…

So why we do not turn back to remember what Hippocrates  said: A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings and let our food be our medicine, and our medicine be our food.

I would like to share with you an anecdote from when we just moved to USA from Europe. My youngest daughter said to me “Mom, you should quickly learn English!” When I asked “why?”, she said “Well just look at the paint that you bought thinking that it is yogurt…”

It’s hard to find “normal products” here, like yogurt or bread or cookies without sugars added, corn syrup, trans fats, hydrogenated oils..and who knows how many others “fancy” ingredients that sometimes you need a degree to be able to read and imagine what could it mean?.

Even going to the restaurant to find a salad without sugary dressing is difficult. In Italy, you have olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you are all set.
Arrivederci!

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I just noticed that we published Fooducate blog post #1000 this week. (It was on St. Patrick’s Day, about the “health benefits” of Guinness Beer)

This is quite a milestone.

So today, I’d like to celebrate by sharing a bit of the background that led to the creation of Fooducate.

I’m a diehard foodie. Whether experimenting in the kitchen with a challenging recipe, trying out a new dish at a local restaurant, or scoping out the food markets wherever I travel around the world, it’s all about food.

My wife and I are both slim (mostly due to lucky genes) so we never paid much attention to nutrition. It was all about fresh ingredients, tasty meals, good wine, and great friends to break bread with. Frozen meals and fast foods were not to be found in our kitchen, mostly because they taste bad compared to what we could prepare on our own.

It was never about calories, carbs, or fats. Nutrition labels and ingredient labels were something I never – and I mean never ever – looked at.

And then I became a dad.

Within 2  years we had 3 babies (our son is now 7, and the twin girls are 5). Naturally, we took an interest in what they were eating.

And we discovered that the food industry is also very interested in what our kids are eating. Welcome to the wonderful world of baby food, kiddie snacks, kiddie cereal, kiddie yogurts, and kiddie drinks. Entire aisles and product lines brightly decorated with cartoon characters and healthy promises.

One day, my wife brought home a glow-in-the-dark yogurt. OK, technically it didn’t glow in the dark, but it’s bright pink color seemed unnatural. And sure enough, turning to that side of the package with the fine print, we learned for the first time about the existence of RED #40, a synthetic dye used to brighten up many a food.

A few Google queries later, I learned that red #40 has been shown to have averse neurological effects, especially on children, and is a potential carcinogen too. Looking up some of the other ingredients in that kiddie yogurt raised additional concerns.

Wasn’t strawberry yogurt supposed to be made with milk, cultures, strawberries, and a touch of sugar? What were those 10 other ingredients doing there? Is this what we want to feed our kids?

By sheer chance, at a layover in between international flights, I picked up The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michale Pollan. If you haven’t read it yet, get it now. It basically explains how the US food industry has been focusing on one thing only in the past 100 years – lowest price food at highest profit for company. As a result, many weird things have happened (High fructose corn syrup is one example, cheap meat and obesity are others).

I quickly followed with Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, What to Eat by Marion Nestle, and countless online resources.  I realized there is a bigger problem than just my kids’ yogurt. Talking about this with friends and acquaintances, I saw that there is huge information gap for many people when trying to choose right at the supermarket.

Someone suggested that since I was doing all this research, I might as well share it with the world through a blog. That seemed like a good idea.

After brainstorming an appropriate name (and an available web domain), “Fooducate” was chosen: Educating ourselves about Food. That sounds right.

The first post was published August 2, 2008, almost 3 years ago. It took a while to find the Fooducate voice, but the basic premise was to discuss current food affairs or products, break down relevant nutrition and ingredient information into something the average Joe or Jane could understand, and recommend a plan of action for grocery shopping.

Thankfully, the blog has managed to gather a following, and today it is providing over ten thousand people a day with quick useful tips for making smarter, healthier food choices.

Most recently, the Fooducate team (yes, we are a handful of people now)  has taken all that advice, and packed it into an iphone app that lets you scan and choose healthier foods while you’re at the supermarket.  We’re working to bring even more tools into your hands. So stay tuned.

I’d like to thank all the guest bloggers who have posted here, and to the loyal readers who continually contribute their insights, thoughts and suggestions in the discussion forum.

Our best stories have come from your requests, so please let us know what you’re interested in learning more about.

Here’s to the next 1000 posts!

- Hemi,

The Fooducate dad

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Click for more Expo West pictures

Fooducate has hit the road and is spending some time at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, a trade show dedicated to the Natural Food Industry. Over 3000 natural and organic food and ingredient manufacturers exhibit their goods twice a year to 50,000 visitors from the food and retail industry. It’s a three day munch fest with samplings at every booth.

Among the trends we’ve spotted

• Bars, bars, and more bars
• Greek yogurt – the fastest growing yogurt category these days.
• Relaxation drinks – including a Bob Marley branded drink
• Coconut water drinks
• Chips and puffs from veggies and fruit
• Non-GMO – more brands are realizing that this is a strong selling point.

What we didn’t see was fresh produce.

What we liked seeing were many small brands whose founders were manning the booths, passionately explaining how their brand came to be, how they are trying to bring a good product to market, and the challenges of competing with the giants.

What you need to know:

While the foods and beverages were delicious, natural, organic, and other catchy phrases don’t always translate to healthy food. There were plenty of sodas, sugary snacks, and savory treats that are best enjoyed occasionally. And if you care about naturally colored treats, ethically procured chocolate, and bars made with organic ingredients, these products are for you.

What to do at the supermarket:

Many of the products we saw are available at Whole Foods Market and other specialty stores. Some can be found in the “regular” supermarkets such as Safeway and Kroger, but you won’t necessarily spot them at eye level. You’ll need to look around a bit (cheaper shelf real estate).

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The year is ending, and we thought it would be interesting to see what our community has read the most in 2010. Here are our most popular posts from 10 up on to 1:

1862 – 2010: A Brief History of Food and Nutrition Labeling – where we review the major developments in nutrition labeling and mis-labeling. This post was originally published in 2008, but is continually updated.

A Visual of Twinkie’s 37 Ingredients – mostly chemicals, of course.

Four Graphic Examples of Portion Distortion – which show us that we eat way too much.

Can You Guess What’s So Special About THIS Happy Meal? Oh the wonders of fast food cuisine.

What’s Inside Yoplait Yogurt Anyway? -  A breakdown of the expected, and unexpected things you’ll find in this top brand of strawberry yogurt.

Whole Foods Adopts ANDI Rating System – In January, Whole Foods announced a new rating system for foods. There wasn’t too much follow-up to this pilot and it seems to have fizzled away.

What is Soy Lecithin and Why is it Found in So Many Products? – well, for one thing, soy is cheap…

11 Quick Facts about Phosphoric Acid (Yes, that Chemical in Coca Cola) – one of them – it leeches calcium out of bones.

Three Reasons to Rethink that Diet Coke You’re About to Drink - people have actually written to tell us they’ve gone cold turkey on soft drinks after reading this!

Guess What’s in The Picture [Foodlike Substance] – our top post of all time, went viral (twice), and continues to shock people every day.

See ya Next Year!

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We’ve written a lot about yogurt recently.

We love yogurt. It’s really good for you.

But sometimes it seems that industry is hammering on this one nail way too many times. And too hard.

Many brands are adding to yogurt all sorta of additives that detract from the nutritional value of the original product.

And if you’re a woman, you’ve got it even worse – it seems that all the yogurt commercials are aimed at directly at you. This funny video by Sarah Haskins is part of a series called Target Women on Current TV. Enjoy! (hat tip to Jennie Brown)

What to do at the supermarket:

Buy plain yogurt. Add your own sweetener, whether fruit, honey, or even chocolate. You will be adding much less sugar than the manufacturers do.

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