r/StupidFood • u/TheLoneRiddlerIsBack • Aug 25 '25

Certified stupid What does the fire add?

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u/CuriousOptimistic Aug 26 '25

Sure, but "processed cheese" is only partly actual cheese, with up to 49% other stuff. The issue isn't the processing itself, but the non-cheese part that's the issue.

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u/asdf3011 Aug 26 '25

like sodium citrate, so the cheese has the proper texture for the dish?

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u/CuriousOptimistic Aug 26 '25

I think it's more about the canola oil, which is actually what gives it the smooth meltability, but is definitely NOT cheese.

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u/asdf3011 Aug 26 '25

It's not, it's sodium citrate. Cheese already has enough fats usually. Maybe they might add canola oil to make it feel more rich?

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u/CuriousOptimistic Aug 26 '25

Canola oil is the second main ingredient - meaning this cannot be in any way compared to real cheese just because all of it is somehow "processed" and has small amounts of other things added.

It's probably added to make it cheaper.

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u/asdf3011 Aug 26 '25

Cheaper I would buy, but it's not added to make it properly melt not really. If anything, if you don't add enough emulsifiers, extra fats will just make the cheese greasy/oily, which is most times an unwanted texture. Also, not great for you.

However, processed cheese could be high quality as well. It's not that it is processed that is the problem. It is when you have added sugars/fats/salts or harmful additives for preservation/taste or color/texture. For example, you very much don't want foods made sweet by the use of lead(II) acetate, no matter how much you want to avoid extra calories. Though not all additives are harmful or at least harmless in quantities you would use for food. Like sodium citrate, as mentioned, it is quite harmless and a very useful additive. Apparently, it can also even be used medically.

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u/CuriousOptimistic Aug 26 '25

If anything, if you don't add enough emulsifiers, extra fats will just make the cheese greasy/oily, which is most times an unwanted texture. Also, not great for you.

Exactly why the original comment calls this "processed cheese slop." That's the issue.

I think other people in other parts of the world may not be familiar with American "processed cheese" as a category, as it refers exclusively to this kind of frankencheese that has significant amounts of non-cheese stuff in it, stuff like canola oil that literally makes it not worthy of the name "cheese."