How negligible (or not) is the potato starch in all shredded cheeses?

#1

Is it better to just buy a block and shred it yourself?

#2

Yes definitely, shred your own. Avoid buying anything with “ingredients” as much as possible.

(icky) #3

How many carbs does it say it has on the packet?

(Tina Emmons) #4

Trader Joes doesn’t use it. They even called corporate for me to make sure it isn’t used in the processing. I use the Italian blend for keto pizza.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #5

Some deli counters will shred for you too. That way you know nothings added.

(less is more, more or less) #6

As Dr. Berry says, labels are misleading, as food producers are legally allowed to “round down” to where 0.9 becomes “0”

Since package serving sizes, which are small for most of the population, make it 0.1 under the “1” threshold, they may legally list “0” for carbs. Quite a scam.

(less is more, more or less) #7

My frugal non-keto wife says “shred it yourself” because it’s cheaper and less junk added to artificially increase the life of aerated product. Some of my best cooking tips are coming from her, and she’s delighted about it.

(Aimee Moisa) #8

I tried to shred mozz and made a ginormous mess. Any suggestions?

(Frank) #9

Love this guy!

(less is more, more or less) #10

I asked my wife and she says it depends:

  • Fresh (wet) mozzarella in the grocer’s deli section, three different options:
    1. Wrap the cheese in paper towels and place in fridge overnight to dry out the cheese
    2. Place in the freezer for 20 mins-ish to harden the cheese
    3. Muscle through the mess (life happens)
  • Whole packaged mozzarella (like Polly-0) on the shelves
    • Generally less messy, but not as good as fresh mozzarella
(Aimee Moisa) #11

OH! Freezer!!! Why didn’t I think of that. @Screenack please thank your wife for me. :slight_smile:

(Brian) #12

I generally forget about the freezer trick and just muddle through with the soft mozzarella. But one of these days, I’m gonna remember. LOL!!

We seriously almost never buy anything shredded anymore. It’s just not that big of a deal. It’s usually just a box grater but it does a fine job, and only the amount we happen to want at the time.

(icky) #13

Yeah, but under 1 carb is still pretty negligible…

(Annalee Haley) #14

Sam’s Club in Arkansas has a 5 pound bag that is 100% cheese without anticaking agents. It is not with the cheese in the open cases. It is in the refrigerated section. It is a full fat mozz.

Otherwise place it in the freezer for a bit prior to shredding with a good food processor.

I shred all other cheeses myself.

(less is more, more or less) #15

Sigh, I wish. I may have 4 - 8 portions of whatever throughout the day, (those damn sneaky carbs are in so many things) and find myself almost half-way to 20 grams.

(Alec) #16

We make shredded cheese and add the anti-caking agent (starch). In theory it should be “negligible”, but on keto if you are having multiple serves, I would avoid it.

Much better to buy a block and do your own shredding. It is much cheaper, you will get better quality cheese, and you avoid the starch.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #17

True, but if you scan the bar code into a tracker like MFP and up the serving size, the carb count will be evident.

(less is more, more or less) #18

tl;dr: I’ve had a huge wake up call on my diet and creeping carbs, no thanks to MFP, more accurately, thanks to Cronometer.

As you know, I’m a long-term user of MFP (2011) I’m checking out Cronometer. I’m shocked at how slack MFP is at recording carbs. MFP follows the labels, Cronometers uses two national databases that do not round down carb values. Surprising difference.

(Annalee Haley) #19

Chronometer found my carb creep as well… and I thought I was so careful.

(Aimee Moisa) #20

What two databases?