--- title: FDA Finds Wood Pulp in Major Parmasan Cheese Brands description: The FDA is cracking down on companies that are lying about selling 100% Parmesan cheese canonical: https://time.com/4226321/parmesan-wood-pulp/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T20:21:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:55.086Z og:title: FDA Warns The Parmesan You Eat May Be Wood Pulp og:description: The FDA is cracking down on companies that are lying about selling 100% Parmesan cheese og:url: https://time.com/4226321/parmesan-wood-pulp/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb22a2fbb10a92ef1/69887dd2524fc0853edf6c78/gettyimages-170545266.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5049 og:image:height: 2840 og:image:alt: parmesan-cheese og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Warns The Parmesan You Eat May Be Wood Pulp twitter:description: The FDA is cracking down on companies that are lying about selling 100% Parmesan cheese twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb22a2fbb10a92ef1/69887dd2524fc0853edf6c78/gettyimages-170545266.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FDA Warns The Parmesan You Eat May Be Wood Pulp > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b6e58375-e740-4742-9a86-4d147da9baad&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Should I Eat Pizza? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Pizza?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-02-12. You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 16, 2016 8:21 PM UTC  TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Parmesan cheese is used as Chef Danny Mcallum shows Star reporter Corey Mintz his caesar salad recipe. (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images) TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Parmesan cheese is used as Chef Danny Mcallum shows Star reporter Corey Mintz his caesar salad recipe. (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images) Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 16, 2016 8:21 PM UTC The FDA is warning pasta and pizza lovers that cheese labeled “100 percent Parmesan” are often filled with cheese substitutes—like wood pulp. Yes, you’ve been eating wood, thanks to companies like Castle Cheese, which produced Parmesan cheese containing no actual Parmesan for almost 30 years. The president of the company, which supplied megastores like Target, is scheduled to plead guilty this month to charges that carry a sentence of up to a year in prison and a $100,o00 fine, [according to Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/the-parmesan-cheese-you-sprinkle-on-your-penne-could-be-wood). Neil Schuman—who runs Arthur Shcuman Inc. the largest seller of hard Italian cheese in the U.S.—estimates a whopping 20 percent of such cheese are mislabeled. Bloomberg ran experiments on store-bought grated cheese to test for wood pulp content in a lab and found that many cheeses have cellulose, which is made from wood pulp. Essential Everyday 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, contained 8.8 percent cellulose. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Great Value 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese had 7.8 percent cellulose. Whole Foods 365 brand didn’t list cellulose as an ingredient, and tested at 0.3 percent. Kraft had 3.8 percent cellulose. Representatives at these stores said they were “investigating” these findings. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] You might be surprised that four out five health experts are giving pizza the thumbs up. But don't be fooled. These are not greasy thumbs. Delivery is a nutritional minefield. One slice of sausage has 14 grams of fat. Pizza is the number one source. Of solid fat intake for kids. 20 % of the pizza that kids eat comes from school cafeterias. Which is pretty much equal to the fast food kind in fat finds a study by Jennifer Poti. Beware the fatty, salty topping. Things warns Lisa Powell. Here 2015 study found that on days when kids eat pizza they take in more calories, saturated fat, and sodium then usual. The trick here is rethinking the pie. Pizza can be as harmless as an open faced sandwich filled with vegetables whole grains and even fruits says Adam Drewnowski. It has a lot going for it. Tomato sauce packs more antioxidants than raw tomatoes, found one 2015 study from the University of Barcelona. In one recent study, Emily Combet developed a nutritionally perfect pizza, with less saturated fat. Less sodium and more fiber. 81 % of kids liked it as much as the regular kind, and 77 % agreed. So yes, by all means eat it, but let your love for pizza be your excuse to cook more. 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