Ask dcr: Why is American Cheese Yellow?
Pete of My GPS Camera Phone Photoblog asks:
Why is American cheese so yellow? What’s up with that? Is there some reason behind it? Is it a carryover from the Velveeta days? If so, why did they make it so yellow?
Well Pete,
American cheese ranges in color from white to yellow to orange. The color varies based on the quantity of rat urine that leeches in during the processing of the cheese. But, it’s okay because that urine gets pasteurized before the cheese is finished. The whiter the cheese, the less contaminated it is.
Seriously, though, American cheese is a processed cheese and it was originally made using cheeses like Cheddar and Colby. So, that’s where the color originates. Nowadays, it usually is a completely processed cheese with no natural cheeses blended in. The color can come from the ingredients in the cheese as well as any colorings that are added, and can vary by manufacturer and production process.
Learn more here: American cheese.
Do you have a burning question you’d like answered? Send it to: askdcr@dcrblogs.com.
Ewww- burning questions- I have never had one of those.
Can you get a burning question from visiting strange blogs?
Yes.
I wear protection when I visit this blog.
My Dad used to work at World’ Finest Chocolate in Chicago in the 70’s-
he said there was allowed ratio of rat crap and beetle fixings.
He also said what the kids don’t sell they remelt and remelt…
kind of like an evil smelting processing- like the ones they make orcs and urkai in - only it’s
CHOCOLATE goodness and well maybe rancid human flesh where the thumbs fall in.
Yummy it’s magically Orcly delicious….. kind of like American cheese only it’s American chocolate and it’s nasty.
No way. I grew up on that stuff. Every year, the schools would organize us into selling those damn chocolate bars, probably so they could fund the liquor bar in the teachers’ lounge. I loved that stuff, but I am never, ever, going to get within a mile of it again. Pity the kid who knocks on my door holding a box of those.
Ever notice how the kids selling it look like hobgoblins?
There is a thrift store near me that sells boxes of it on the counter…
Now thrift stores typically sell used stuff- like old underwear and such.
Need I say more; used chocolate anyone.
Have you noticed the chocolate bars are smaller than what they were when we were kids? And they cost more too.
You know, I think I may still have a box somewhere from when I used to sell those chocolate bars for school. Wonder what that might go for on eBay?
Not that I’d necessarily part with it, as I’m pretty sure it’s probably in use for something anyway, but if they’re going for thousands of dollars, I’ll reconsider.
Childhood memories are important, but they do have their price. And, some prices are much higher than others, while others aren’t quite that high.
I think I am more inclined to believe the first explanation after hearing about the cheese scare going on in San Diego.