Recent concerns surrounding GMO, MSG, Aspartame, and other   potential  garbage in our food has had me looking a little more closely at food labels.

Today while shopping I picked up I container labeled Kraft 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese.

The label gives even more detail:  The label doesn’t just say parmesan, it says 100% parmesan.  That’s because we only use the finest ingredients, carefully crafted and aged for a sharp, distinctive taste that enhances your favorite dishes — a taste that’s 100 real, 100% parmesan.  Below is a scanned graphic of the actual label.

Kraft is a brand well known for quality.  Or so I thought.  Let’s take a closer look at the ingredient list.  Rotated and enlarged for your convenience.

Ingredients:  parmesan cheese (milk, bacterial culture, salt, lipase, microbial enzyme, calcium chloride), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate.  May contain modified milk ingredients.  (A061l) contains:  milk.

• Parmesan cheese contains milk, bacterial culture, and so on.  Looks good so far.
• Cellulose powder is also known as food grade wood pulp.  Huh?  In at least three places the label reads, 100% Parmesan.
• Potassium sorbate is a food preservative.  Whether it is healthy or not is a story for another blog post.
• May contain modified milk ingredients.  This may be another way to label MSG.

The fact food grade wood pulp is found in this product means it is not 100% parmesan cheese as the label suggests.  Kraft Canada has a label that is just a little bit misleading, don’t you think?.