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I was at Trader Joe's again, and I bought this cheese alternative. Being hungry out of my mind, the thought to check the ingredients never crossed it. Now I, a vegan, am stuck with having to eat a "cheese alternative" that contains the following (lest a portion of my finite grocery budget be spent in vain):

  • Almond base
    • Filtered water
    • Crushed organic almonds
  • Casein
    • Milk protein
  • Expeller pressed canola oil
  • Modified potato starch
  • Natural Parmesan cheese flavor (adds a trivial amount of lactose)
    • Parmesan cheese
    • Pasteurized milk
    • Cheese cultures
    • Salt
    • Enzyme
    • Water
    • Salt
    • Xanthan gum
  • Vegetable glycerin
  • Sodium phosphate
  • Sea salt
  • Citric acid
  • Psyllium husk (a plant fiber)
  • Calcium phosphate

My question is this: What is the purpose of a cheese substitute that contains dairy? It's not suitable for people allergic to or otherwise averse to dairy Apparently it is, to an extent. So what's the thought process behind the development and release of this product?

JesseTG
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4 Answers4

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Lactose intolerance (which is different from a milk allergy, which is a smaller group) comes in varying degrees, so this may be useful for people who can have a bit of lactose (who can process casein fine).

For example, many lactose intolerant people (who often avoid dairy) can handle non-dairy creamer fine (and varying amounts of cheese), even though it has casein. Many cheese substitutes still do use casein.

The parmesan adds glutemates to the mix, while casein gives a lot of structural properties to cheese (like melting ability for real cheese).

Batman
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It's cheaper to produce than actual cheese. In fact, some years ago, technology in Eastern Europe caught up with the world but legislation didn't - and suddenly there was a scandal when people realized that what they are being sold as "cheese" is in fact something else. Even after the change in legislation (which required labelling of non-cheese alternatives as such) there still was a large market for the alternative, as a large proportion of the population is too poor to buy anything but the cheapest food, and for them it is the only way they can afford to eat cheese (or something which tastes like it).

rumtscho
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  • Some people are intolerent to the fermentation process used to make the cheese (intolerent to some sort of bacteries I gess)
  • Some other people just don't like the taste of cheese, but like the other dairy products (e.g. yoghurts, cream) In both case, these cheese alternative are fine for them, and they can use it to cook meals that normally use cheese they wouldn't be able to eat.

Among my coworkers, I know one person in each case stated below.

Vulpo
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In reply to your question - "So what's the thought process behind the development and release of this product?" Answer - to trick you into buying their fake product by implying that it is vegan and doesn't contain dairy. I have noticed more and more fake vegan products coming into the supermarkets that all have some kind of animal by-product in it. Even though they don't directly claim to be vegan, they imply so by using the language of 'meat free' but are not ethical because they are made with caged produced eggs. And then there is also the 'soy cheese' that has dairy products in it. I got caught out with that product thinking it was vegan and bought it a few times before I realized it wasn't.

If the "cheese alternative" that you bought contains parmesan cheese and milk products like you named in the ingredient list then "cheese alternative" is false labeling because it has cheese in it and is therefore not a cheese alternative because it is cheese. There is absolutely no point to buying or eating this product.

Di Wilson
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