• nymwit@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Also fair. I won’t pretend I’m following USDA or whatever naming rules (the “uncured” labeling is bullshit - oh we didn’t use straight potassium nitrate - just celery juice which contains the potassium nitrate), just going with the general language trend I see. YMMV

    I did conflate cheese that has built in emulsifiers, “american cheese”, with imitation cheese product (likely the plastic wrapped slices melted onto that dish) which also has emulsifiers and has lower fat content and isn’t as nice. That’s on me, my bad.

    tongue-in-cheek, not really ragging it but: “oooooo chemicals” like salt? The potassium nitrate in cured/“uncured” meats? Sodium citrate, one of the most common additives to keep cheese emulsified, is often used in sausage making…and apparently blood banks if wikipedia is to be believed. I know there are horrible things put in processed foods, but “chemicals” is not a useful way to distinguish them. I apologize in advance if I’ve read a too-unfavorable slant into your use of the word chemical.

    • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.todayOP
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      4 months ago

      Fair enough, but in reality, it’s not always sodium citrate, as the FDA permits a whole variety of other emulsifying agents to be used:

      Monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate (sodium hexametaphosphate), sodium acid pyrophosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, calcium citrate, sodium tartrate, and sodium potassium tartrate

      I’m not a chemist so I can’t tell you how good are bad those are for your long term health but as far Kraft Singles are concerned, the choice appears to be sodium phosphate, not citrate.