What Makes Processed Cheese Unhealthy?

When most people think of cheese, they picture a healthy food that is versatile and can be eaten at any meal or as a snack. While natural cheese is healthy thanks to its dairy content, processed cheese is actually unhealthy. If your goal is to eat a well-balanced diet or to lose weight, natural cheese should be part of your life, but processed cheese should not.

Contains Chemicals And Additives

If you were to guess how much actual cheese there is in processed cheese, you will likely be surprised by the answer. U.S. food regulations say that processed cheese only has 51 percent natural cheese by weight. To make up the rest of this, there are plenty of additives you don’t necessarily need. Processed cheese has more salt, whey, and food coloring than natural unprocessed cheese. It also contains emulsifiers that keep the water and oil bound together.

Some Common Processed Cheese Ingredients

Although the ingredients in processed cheese can vary, many contain the following. Sodium phosphate is an artificial ingredient and emulsifier. In some cases, it has been linked to kidney-related health problems. Instead of starting with actual cheese, many processed cheeses will also contain milk protein concentrate, a dairy substitute that helps them keep production costs low. Of course, there are also food colorings like yellow tartrazine and yellow 6 in certain processed cheese. Both of those coloring additives have actually been banned in some parts of Europe due to the risk of tumors in the kidneys and adrenal glands.

In the case of spray-able processed cheese and certain spreadable ones, they also contain trisodium phosphate. This is a scary ingredient as it is a variation of a common emulsifier compound in stain-removers and cleansers.

Saturated Fat

Unfortunately, all cheese has saturated fat which is why you are supposed to eat it in moderation. Even so, processed cheese tends to have more saturated fats than unprocessed cheese. For example, a single slice will have 21 percent of your daily recommended limit for saturated fatty acids. Considering you are likely to have more than one slice and pair it with other saturated fats, this is a big concern. That is particularly true since the processed cheese won’t even provide you with nutritional benefits. Since it is only 51 percent actual cheese, you aren’t getting as much calcium, protein, or other nutrients as you would from unprocessed cheese. In other words, while unprocessed, natural cheese can be healthy as long as you don’t binge, processed cheese only hurts your health.