Too Much Wood in Shredded Cheese Sparks Food Fraud Concerns
If you’ve been scrolling through food news today and suddenly found shredded cheese at the center of a controversy, here’s what’s going on and why it matters.
Canadian food inspectors have released new findings showing that a surprisingly large share of pre-shredded cheese sold across the country contains too much cellulose. Cellulose is a substance derived from plant fibers, often from wood, and it’s legally added to shredded cheese to stop the strands from clumping together in the bag. In small, regulated amounts, it’s allowed and considered safe. The problem is that many products appear to be going well beyond that limit.
According to the latest inspection results, fewer than six out of ten shredded cheese products tested actually met Canadian standards. That makes shredded cheese the worst-performing food category in this round of testing. In practical terms, that means a significant number of consumers were paying full cheese prices for products bulked up with a filler that should only play a minor role.
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This issue is trending now because the findings come from a recent annual report focused on food fraud, a growing concern worldwide. Food fraud doesn’t always mean unsafe food, but it often means consumers are misled about what they’re buying. In this case, excessive cellulose is treated as an adulterant, because it replaces real cheese while remaining largely invisible to the buyer.
Shredded cheeses like parmesan-style blends were especially affected, and inspectors flagged the practice as financially harmful to consumers. The concern isn’t just about taste or texture. It’s about trust. When people buy a bag labeled as cheese, they expect cheese, not an inflated product padded with plant fiber.
The broader context here is important. Food fraud has been detected in many categories, from olive oil to spices and honey. Regulators use lab testing, DNA analysis, and market surveillance to catch these practices, but results can vary year to year as testing methods change. Still, the sharp drop in compliance for shredded cheese has caught public attention and reignited debate about food transparency.
The likely impact is increased scrutiny of manufacturers and tighter monitoring in grocery stores. Products found to be non-compliant can be pulled from shelves or destroyed, even if company names aren’t always made public right away. For consumers, the message is simple but uncomfortable: convenience foods don’t always deliver what they promise.
As this story continues to circulate, it’s prompting people to look more closely at labels and, in some cases, return to shredding cheese at home. For now, this serves as another reminder that even everyday foods can raise serious questions about quality, value, and honesty in the food system.
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