FDA Warns The Public About Wood Pulp Filled Parmesan Cheese

The FDA has issued a warning against people who consume Parmesan cheese. As it turns out, cheeses labeled "100 percent Parmesan" aren't the real deal - instead, they're filled with substitutes like wood pulp.

As it turns out, several companies have been allegedly doing this practice. Neil Schuman of Arthur Schuman Inc., the largest seller of hard Italian cheeses in the U.S., says that approximately 20 percent of these cheeses are not labeled properly.

"The tipping point was grated cheese, where less than 40 percent of the product was actually a cheese product," Schuman said. "Consumers are innocent, and they're not getting what they bargained for. And that's just wrong."

According to Bloomberg, agents at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted on a tip and decided to make a surprise visit at a Pennsylvania cheese factory back in 2012.

Officials ended up finding evidence on how Castle Cheese Inc. falsified its 100 percent real Parmesan label by using cheap substitutes and fillers such as wood pulp. The company had been producing these fake cheeses for almost 30 years, Time reported.

The president of Castle Cheese, who supplied products for the country's biggest chains like Target, will be pleading guilty later this month for charges that can lead up to a year in prison with a $100,000 fine.

Bloomberg News conducted experiments on store-bought grated cheese to find out if wood pulp can really be found in the product. The results showed that several cheeses had cellulose, which is made from wood pulp.

"Essential Everyday 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, was 8.8 percent cellulose, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Great Value 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese registered 7.8 percent, according to test results," reported Lydia Mulvany of Bloomberg. She continued, "Whole Foods 365 brand didn't list cellulose as an ingredient on the label, but still tested at 0.3 percent. Kraft had 3.8 percent."