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Come on, you know you eat it. Even if you're a health food nut, you love this too. Maybe you convince yourself that if you put it on something healthy, like crackers that have no trans fats, or maybe rice cakes, you're still eating healthy. Maybe you think it's not too bad (after all, it's cheese!). But, really, it's cheese shoved into a can, after all, so how natural can it be?
Wired Magazine takes a look inside the can (and a look at the can itself) to see what exactly it is we're eating. The ingredients are whey, canola oil, salt, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, calcium phospate, lactic acid, sodium alginate, and apocarotenal. If you're wondering, that last one helps make it the color it is. And sodium alginate? This seaweedy extract is derived from brown algae (this just gets better and better), and increases viscosity. Motor oil for our intestines? Whatever.
And did you know it's not really an aerosol can? The cheese doesn't come into contact with the propellant. You learn something new every day.
I like my Easy Cheese on Triscuits.
(Thanks to Adam!)
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10-14-2006 @3:11AM FaerieBlanc said... Easy cheese and spam on crackers... Now that's some tasty Americana. Why do we have a fear of eating foods that don't normally come in cans?
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10-11-2006 @1:19PM NeedleNose said... "Come on, you know you eat it. Even if you're a health food nut, you love this too."
Uh, no, though I am not exactly a "health food nut". Nobody in my family eats it, and none of my friends have ever served it to me. My mother never got this for us as kids, so I have no nostalgic attachment to cheese in a can, I suppose.
It has twice the sodium of typical cheddar? I think I'll get my daily ration of salt (and grease) in a tastier form.
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10-11-2006 @2:02PM Spitzmaus said... Like NeedleNose, I'm certainly no "health food nut," nor do I shy away from an occasional junk food indulgence; that said, Cheez-Whiz (the precursor of Easy Cheese) appalled me as a child, and it appalls me to this day. Something about the whole concept is just not right. I don't eat, crave, or even think about this stuff -- and I never will.
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10-11-2006 @2:28PM geekpdx said... I haven't commented here before, but I won't let all the comments go to the haters on this one.
Like everyone else is claiming, I'm no health nut myself. Nonetheless, cheese in a can still gets a bad rap. It's no more "processed" or "fake" than many other foods that a number of us enjoy (secretly, or not). It's just very difficult to hide the amount of processing in a product like canned cheese than it is in a product like packaged cookies, ice cream, soda or that fast food value meal. Some people may find it revolting, and others seem to get off on labeling it revolting as often as possible. Fine, no big deal.
As for myself... I eat it. Of course, I generally only eat it when camping or fishing, since it's far more convenient and clean than any sort of "regular" cheese (at least the way my trips end up). When I do indulge in the stuff, it's usually on Triscuits if I'm in polite company, or directly into my mouth if I'm not.
On a "fake" cheese side-note, I can't help my love for Tostito's "Salsa con Queso" dip. However, I reserve this particular canned indulgence for my annual Superbowl party.
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10-11-2006 @2:40PM Peter said... I eat more than my fair share of junk, but that stuff is just plain nasty.
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10-11-2006 @3:16PM Bill Sirinek said... I've only had easy cheese on a small number of occasions, but still it could never replace my favorite "quotation-mark cheese".... VELVEETA! :)
Nothing better for grilled cheese sandwiches. And its every bit as processed as the stuff in the can (or jar)
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10-11-2006 @5:07PM Arwen E. Adair said... It's the best if you shoot it into Bugles. Like little cheesy ice cream cones!
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10-11-2006 @11:16PM NeedleNose said... Not a "hater", but I don't wish to be labeled as someone who eats and loves the stuff. "You know you eat it"? Nope. Nor did I label it as revolting in my comments. "Tastier" is purely subjective and does not imply that someone else wouldn't find it to their taste.
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10-15-2006 @3:40PM Becky Jo in Missouri said... There are NONE OTHERS like it. It's the BEST!
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10-22-2006 @5:05PM Natasha said... I have to admit, I do eat cheese whiz once in a while, and it's not THAT bad, I mean jeez all of you are taking this article way too seriously. For heaven's sake, it's cheese in a can, SO WHAT. Many foods contain some nasty stuff in them, for example, lots of foods are died with Red 40, and that is made of bugs. Does America still love M&M's? YES. So all Easy Cheese lovers, squirt on.
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10-15-2006 @2:57PM ELephant Lover! said... So you are eating rubber when you swallow bubbled gum! so what it is good! and some stuff has that seaweed stuff in it also! whatever i dont even like spray cheese but many people do!
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10-15-2006 @2:57PM Susan said... I eat the Easy Cheese,it's not that bad. I give it to my cats for treats. I have one cat that will take the cheese can like a bottle.
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10-15-2006 @3:08PM Krystle said... I'm no health food nut either, but I LOVE easy cheese, I eat it with Wheat Thins or Tostitos. It's good and I've never had any health problems. Easy Cheese is great stuff me and my friends eat it plenty, it definatly gets a bad wrap, but you know you love even if you won't admit it
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10-15-2006 @3:19PM Missy said... I've never actually tried easy cheese. But I do love my Ritz Bitz crackers with cheese, which is pretty much the same thing. And for the record, chewing gum is made out of wax, not rubber.
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10-15-2006 @3:30PM lo said... who needs crackers?! just spray it in your mouth!!! i am a health nut....but....i will eat this by the can full if i see it at a party!! i will be trying that bugles trick however!!! thanks for the idea!
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10-15-2006 @3:44PM Becky Jo in Missouri said... None other like it! It's the BEST!
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10-15-2006 @3:33PM Maggie said... I just have one thing to say - YUCK!!!!
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10-15-2006 @3:37PM elliott m. said... I stopped at a hot dog truck one time and asked for a hot dog with cheese. Even though hot dogs aren't good for you, when the man sprayed canned fake cheese on my hot dog it grossed me out!!
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10-15-2006 @3:50PM willamina said... Yummm... an old family favorite !!! We called it "pushy cheese" growing up !!! Still do !!!
(careful how you say it!) Push on... cheese (or whatever it is) lovers. I believe we inhale much more dangerous things on the freeways..and look at traffic!!
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10-15-2006 @3:45PM Susan Bricker said... I am a pet sitter. I use cheese wiz on dog vitimens to get the dog to take the pill. They love the taste.
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