Cheese Declared Junk Food

Cheese Ad Banned

In Britain, cheese ads were recently banned during children's shows in an attempt to combat childhood obesity. Yes, cheese!

The Food Standards Agency ranked a 100g serving of cheese as unhealthier than sugary cereals, crisps or cheeseburgers. Their guidelines mean cheese will be treated like other banned foods including mayonnaise, butter, chocolate, colas, pizza and fried chicken.

But cheese producers argue a normal serving of cheese would only be around 40g, and that the fat and sugar content in such a portion would not fall into the 'junk food' category.

I'm not a big fan of dairy and I certainly don't think it's an essential part of a diet, especially if we're talking about pasteurized, homogenized stuff. But to rank cheese below sugared cereals means that the guidelines were pathetic. While the guidelines aren't detailed, my thought is that it's based on fat. Cheese contains fat, protein, and carbohydrates, whereas sugary cereals are carbohydrate only. Ridiculous!