Cheese is amazing, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. It's great with wine, perfect on the side with some crackers, and it can improve almost any savory dish you care to add it to. But not all cheese is equal, and there's some that you should leave sitting on the shelf in the grocery store. We're talking about cheese that's not good for your waistline, bad for the environment, exposing you to a high risk of food poisoning, and one that's even got more in common with foot funk than with anything else in your fridge. So, which cheese should you be skipping?
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00:00Cheese is amazing, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.
00:04It's great with wine, perfect on the side with some crackers, and it can improve almost
00:07any savory dish you care to add it to.
00:10But not all cheese is equal, and there's some that you should leave sitting on the shelf
00:13in the grocery store.
00:14We're talking about cheese that's not good for your waistline, bad for the environment,
00:17exposing you to a high risk of food poisoning, and one that's even got more in common with
00:21foot funk than with anything else in your fridge.
00:24So, which cheese should you be skipping?
00:26I can't even ignore the cheese, I'm sorry, I can't do it!
00:35Queso Fresco
00:37Queso Fresco is a staple of Mexican cuisine, but there's a dangerous side to this cheese.
00:41It can be a breeding ground for listeria.
00:43Both homemade and commercially produced Queso Fresco is likely to grow bacteria, and it's
00:48been linked to numerous food poisoning outbreaks.
00:50Even if you buy and unwrap a perfectly safe batch of Queso Fresco, it can easily pick
00:55up a contaminant from your home or fridge, where it doesn't take long for a problem to
00:59develop.
01:00The CDC recommends pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, and the elderly
01:04don't eat Queso Fresco at all.
01:06The risk for listeria is so great.
01:08The consequences are serious, it can be fatal, and has been linked to miscarriages.
01:12This is definitely one case where it's better to be safe than sorry.
01:16Marscapone
01:17Marscapone isn't just a pretty pricey cheese, it's also about 50 percent fat.
01:22That fat content is what makes it an excellent dessert cheese and thickening agent in savory
01:27dishes, but it's also what makes this one deserving of the unhealthy reputation cheese
01:31can have.
01:32If you were to eat a single tablespoon of marscapone, you'd be eating about 10 percent
01:35of your daily allowance of dietary cholesterol, in addition to all that fat.
01:39Since most people are trying to lower their cholesterol, not raise it, that makes being
01:43aware of marscapone's potency pretty important.
01:46Fortunately, you can swap out marscapone for low-fat ricotta in many dishes, and cream
01:50cheese and Greek yogurt are also viable replacements.
01:53You can also replace just part of the marscapone to keep the flavor and lose some of the bad
01:57stuff.
01:58And that's good, because there's a lot of bad stuff.
02:01Sheep cheese
02:02If you think sheep cheese would be more environmentally friendly than cow's cheese, you're mistaken.
02:06It all comes down to just how much milk and cheese a sheep can produce.
02:10When researchers from MTT Agri-Food Research Finland looked at how much methane was produced
02:15by sheep, cows, and goats compared to that of how much cheese was ultimately produced,
02:19they found sheep were the least efficient of them all.
02:22If you want the most environmentally safe option, go with a goat cheese.
02:26Not only are they the most efficient animals, but soft cheeses that haven't been aged for
02:29a long time are the best when it comes to energy consumption, as well.
02:33Cheddar
02:34There's no denying that cheddar is a favorite cheese, both versatile and delicious.
02:39"'Cause cheddar cheese makes all the difference!"
02:41Hooray!"
02:42But because you can easily eat away more than a few servings in a single sitting, moderation
02:46is key here.
02:47It can quickly become bad for you, especially considering it can contain a huge amount of
02:51salt.
02:52The Food and Drug Administration recommends that adults consume no more than one teaspoon
02:57of salt per day.
02:58When the UK-based specialist group Consensus Action on Salt and Health tested various types
03:02of cheeses, they found that while salt content varied across brands of cheddar, some had
03:07a higher concentration of salt than actual seawater.
03:09A single, matchbox-sized serving of cheddar contained about one-sixth of the recommended
03:15daily allotment of salt.
03:16And how many of those servings do you put on your nachos?
03:18Skip this one if you can.
03:20Velveeta
03:21As amazing as Velveeta is in queso dip, you should still skip it for a few different reasons.
03:26A single serving of Velveeta has 80 calories, which doesn't seem like much, but 50 of those
03:30calories come from fat.
03:32Now let's put serving sizes in perspective.
03:34One ounce is considered a serving of Velveeta, and there are 16 servings in that block.
03:39Given that it's easy to sit and pick away at a bowl of queso dip all night, you know
03:43you're going to be getting more than a single serving if this one's on the menu.
03:47It's also incredibly high in lactose, making it a problem for not just those who are lactose
03:51intolerant, but also those who might be sensitive to dairy.
03:54While milk has between 3.7 and 4.8 percent lactose, Velveeta has a whopping 9.3 percent.
04:01Not only are you going to pack on the fat and calories, but you're going to feel bad
04:04afterwards.
04:05Just don't do it.
04:07Limburger
04:08Even if you can't stand the idea of Limburger, you probably know someone who loves nothing
04:12more than putting some on a sandwich and grossing out everyone else in the room.
04:16Fortunately for you haters, science is on your side.
04:19If you're having a picnic and want to keep the mosquitoes away, put some Limburger out
04:23away from the party.
04:24The mosquitoes will choose the Limburger over you, and that's because they think it's an
04:28extra-strong version of what they're attracted to in people, bacterial foot funk.
04:33Researchers at a Dutch university have found that the bacteria that turns Limburger into,
04:38well, Limburger, is the same genus of bacteria that's between your toes.
04:42It grows when cheesemakers wash the outside of the cheeses with water, which then nurtures
04:47the bacteria in the same way our sweaty feet do.
04:50That doesn't explain why some people love it, but if you hate it, there's your scientific
04:54explanation as to why it's gross.
04:55You're welcome.