Yeah, I get that it’s funny to rag on all things American and all, but American cheese is still cheese, in the same sense that a sausage is still meat. It’s been processed, yes, but aside from some additives the stuff that comes out is the same stuff that went in.
Or that Americans don’t know what “real beer” is because they assume we only ever drink bud light. I can’t walk 5 steps in any direction without passing a craft brewery.
By the American government’s own definition most of it legally cannot be called cheese. Instead its “IMITATION PASTEURIZED PROCESS CHEESE FOOD” or something similar.
Even the stuff that can be labeled cheese only has to be 51% cheese, and 49% can be something else.
Then it’s not American cheese, is it? It’s imitation cheese food. The package in that photo doesn’t even claim so, it just calls itself “singles.” I’m aware there’s a race to the bottom to make the cheapest shittiest substitute for just about anything in the US, but that’s not the discussion.
The discussion is something being American cheese doesn’t automatically mean it’s not cheese. Going back to my own analogy, you could argue the same about sausage if you held up a picture of sausage-style meat type food.
if a sausage that claims to be ‘meat’ is, by majority volume and weight, non-meat filler, though… i daresay there are some people who would take issue with that, and i wouldn’t blame them. Meat can be sausage… but sausage CAN be made with no meat, or almost no meat.
Okay? American cheese is also required to be more than half cheese by weight. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be American cheese, it’d be imitation pasteurized processed cheese food. Yes, you can have sausage with no meat, but you wouldn’t be allowed to label it as meat, though I’m not sure how that’s relevant.
I feel like I must not have made myself clear somehow, because you’re the third person now to make an argument completely adjacent to my point, so maybe I need to make my point clear:
Just because a cheese is an American cheese does not mean it is not real cheese, or even necessarily bad cheese.
That’s it. That’s my point. Full stop. I am genuinely starting to feel like this:
Ummmm… no? I can go to a store and buy a sausage that has 3 ingredients: meat, pepper and natural intestine it’s packed in. I can also go to a store and buy a sausage that has mean, water, salt, sugar, stabilizer, antioxidant and preservative. Are both still just meat? The additives and the processing are the problem. The more of it in food the less healthy it gets.
Nobody’s talking about health, we’re discussing if it is or isn’t what it claims to be. And yes, your second sausage is still meat. Meat with a ton of additives, yes, but still meat. And likewise, you can have high-quality American cheese that is mostly cheddar with a pinch of sodium citrate, or you can have shitty American cheese that’s almost half additives. I know there are shitty products out there, that is, again, not what the conversation is about. The point is just because it’s American cheese doesn’t mean it’s not cheese.
Yeah, I get that it’s funny to rag on all things American and all, but American cheese is still cheese, in the same sense that a sausage is still meat. It’s been processed, yes, but aside from some additives the stuff that comes out is the same stuff that went in.
Best part is when those people think we don’t have access to any other cheese, the ignorance is something else
Or that Americans don’t know what “real beer” is because they assume we only ever drink bud light. I can’t walk 5 steps in any direction without passing a craft brewery.
By the American government’s own definition most of it legally cannot be called cheese. Instead its “IMITATION PASTEURIZED PROCESS CHEESE FOOD” or something similar.
Even the stuff that can be labeled cheese only has to be 51% cheese, and 49% can be something else.
Then it’s not American cheese, is it? It’s imitation cheese food. The package in that photo doesn’t even claim so, it just calls itself “singles.” I’m aware there’s a race to the bottom to make the cheapest shittiest substitute for just about anything in the US, but that’s not the discussion.
The discussion is something being American cheese doesn’t automatically mean it’s not cheese. Going back to my own analogy, you could argue the same about sausage if you held up a picture of sausage-style meat type food.
if a sausage that claims to be ‘meat’ is, by majority volume and weight, non-meat filler, though… i daresay there are some people who would take issue with that, and i wouldn’t blame them. Meat can be sausage… but sausage CAN be made with no meat, or almost no meat.
Okay? American cheese is also required to be more than half cheese by weight. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be American cheese, it’d be imitation pasteurized processed cheese food. Yes, you can have sausage with no meat, but you wouldn’t be allowed to label it as meat, though I’m not sure how that’s relevant.
I feel like I must not have made myself clear somehow, because you’re the third person now to make an argument completely adjacent to my point, so maybe I need to make my point clear:
Just because a cheese is an American cheese does not mean it is not real cheese, or even necessarily bad cheese.
That’s it. That’s my point. Full stop. I am genuinely starting to feel like this:
Ummmm… no? I can go to a store and buy a sausage that has 3 ingredients: meat, pepper and natural intestine it’s packed in. I can also go to a store and buy a sausage that has mean, water, salt, sugar, stabilizer, antioxidant and preservative. Are both still just meat? The additives and the processing are the problem. The more of it in food the less healthy it gets.
Nobody’s talking about health, we’re discussing if it is or isn’t what it claims to be. And yes, your second sausage is still meat. Meat with a ton of additives, yes, but still meat. And likewise, you can have high-quality American cheese that is mostly cheddar with a pinch of sodium citrate, or you can have shitty American cheese that’s almost half additives. I know there are shitty products out there, that is, again, not what the conversation is about. The point is just because it’s American cheese doesn’t mean it’s not cheese.