Debunking myths about cheese

As with many foods, there are some “old wives’ tales” about cheese that persist despite factual evidence to the contrary. I’m not talking about the myth that the moon is made of cheese, which I hope no one believes (although some people still think the earth is flat so….). Janet Fletcher of Planet Cheese, an expert on all things cheesy, is here to set the record straight on five common cheese myths.

The biggest myth that Fletcher debunks is that cheese contains high amounts of lactose. Apparently over 98% of the lactose stays with the whey during the cheesemaking process. I am a cheese fanatic yet I didn’t realize this. Fletcher believes that most people who have difficulty digesting cheese probably have a reaction to casein, not lactose. There are a handful of cheeses made with what is called A2 milk (the two main β-casein proteins in cheese are known as A1 and A2), and those are sometimes more digestible for people who have problems eating cheese.

Another misconception about cheese is that creamy cheeses are higher in fat and calories than hard cheeses. However, ounce for ounce, hard cheese has more calories because the water content is lower, sometimes only half as much water as soft types such as cottage cheese. Other myths that Fletcher discusses include whether it’s okay to freeze cheese (she does not recommend it) and an ongoing discussion of whether blue cheese contains gluten.