A Little Fiber for Your Diet

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A (crazy) cousin of mine told me that he was trying to save money on his feed bill. It was costing him a lot of money to feed his horse.  He was brainstorming different cost saving ideas and determined that he would feed his horse one cup less of feed and substitute a cup of sawdust in its place.  He did this every day for a week, the horse was eating it and he saw no ill effects.  So then he removed two cups of feed from his horse's daily ration and substituted two cups of sawdust in its place. That went on for a week and then he continued with the experiment.  He told me that he was saving a lot of money after a month and that he had his horse eating almost 100% sawdust when his horse went and died on him.  Now, he was only joking (I hope), but who in the world would eat sawdust?

Well, if you eat Parmesan Cheese, you probably do!  THIS ARTICLE I read recently said that:

Parmesan cheese or wood pulp? Chances are when you sprinkle parmesan on your spaghetti you may be getting a little of both.
Some companies that promise 100% parmesan cheese, have been adding cellulose, a common food additive made from wood pulp, to their cheese products, according to an independent study, launched by Bloomberg News.
An independent laboratory test found that products like Walmart store's Great Value 100% grated parmesan cheese registered 7.8% cellulose, Jewel-Osco’s Essential Everyday 100% parmesan cheese was 8.8% cellulose and Kraft had 3.8% cellulose, Bloomberg reported.

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Well, that's crazy, isn't it?  Sawdust mixed with cheese doesn't sound very appetizing.  I assume if you ate enough of it, you might end up like my cousin's horse.  Sometimes at our house, I invoke the "five second rule."  Do you do that? The rule says that if you happen to drop some food on the ground, as long as you pick it up in less than five seconds, it is safe to eat.  Sometimes (yes, I'm frugal) I'll add a bit of water to an (almost) empty Tabasco Sauce bottle to get the last bit out of the bottle.  Ditto with ketchup or mustard.

I think the difference with those things is that I KNOWINGLY do those things.  I wouldn't want my food picked up off of the kitchen floor if I go out to a restaurant.  I wouldn't want someone to serve me diluted Tabasco Sauce, ketchup or mustard either.  And I sure wouldn't want wood chips in my Parmesan Cheese, wood you?! Adding wood pulp to your Parmesan Cheese won't hurt you, but it is deceitful. Companies are able to stretch their product and add profits to their bottom line - at our expense.

That's why it's always best to read labels on things you eat and choose those products that contain few ingredients with ingredients that you can pronounce and understand what it is, with no artificial colors, flavorings or fillers like sawdust.  Oh, block Parmesan Cheese that you grate yourself does NOT contain sawdust.  If you are not a beaver and don't enjoy eating sawdust, you want to make sure that you buy block Parmesan and grate it yourself!