Tested 16 cheese sticks for children: Too much sugar and fat, not recommended to eat more

Have you ever bought cheese sticks for your children?

In the supermarket, large shelves are filled with various cheese sticks for children, and the colorful cartoon packaging immediately catches the children's attention. In addition, the packaging has cute cartoon characters printed on it, and the taste is fragrant and sweet. How can children not love such cheese sticks?

Many parents believe that they cannot stop their children from eating snacks. Eating cheese sticks is always healthier than eating puffed food. If your child doesn’t like milk, why not just eat cheese sticks, which can supplement calcium anyway.

But are children’s cheese sticks really as healthy as we think? For this review, Dad selected 16 popular children’s cheese sticks on the e-commerce platform to take a look at:

The sample fee for this time is 1,704.72 yuan + the testing fee is 20,352 yuan = 22,056.72 yuan

First of all, we need to clarify the concept. Most cheese sticks for children are processed cheese.

According to the national standard definition, the cheese component in processed cheese only needs to be greater than 15%, and the nutritional value such as protein and calcium is far less than that of cheese.

I took out a package of the cheese sticks under review and looked at the ingredient list. The most of it was water! The second place is cream, and the third place is cheese.

Water, cream, cheese, sugar, skim milk powder, and concentrated milk protein are the basic ingredients of cheese sticks.

The ingredient list of food is arranged from most to least added, that is to say, which ingredient is ranked first will have the most content. When buying children's cheese, try to choose cheese that comes first, as it will be healthier.

Continuing to study the ingredient list of children’s cheese sticks, we found that there are many additives in them. But parents don’t have to worry. Food additives used in accordance with national regulations are not harmful to children’s health. The additives in children's cheese are mainly to make the cheese taste better, prevent deterioration and add flavor.

If you are concerned about certain additives, just look at the ingredient list and avoid them when purchasing.

It must be admitted that additives make cheese sticks taste better, otherwise children would be addicted to cheese sticks.

During the review, we also treated the big friends in the office to cheese sticks. Some people think it is full of milky flavor and tastes like jelly, and they can't stop eating it. But there are also some fruit-flavored cheese sticks, which have no fruit or fruit products added at all, and taste relatively strong in flavor.

After talking about the ingredients, let’s talk about the nutritional content.

Most parents buy cheese sticks because the merchants advertise that they have high nutritional value and can supplement protein and calcium for their children. Many brands will also write on the product details page that the protein content of cheese sticks is several times that of milk.

Looking at it this way, the protein content of cheese sticks is indeed quite high. However, we have to consider that drinking 100g of milk a day is not enough for one carton. To eat 100g of cheese sticks, you need to eat almost five sticks, which is a bit much. You know, there is a lot of sugar and fat in cheese sticks.

We compiled the protein and fat content from the nutrition facts of 16 children's cheese sticks and sent them to a laboratory to test for total sugar content (using AOAC method 995.13).

After obtaining the total sugar test results, we subtracted the lactose contained in dairy products and obtained the added sugar of children's cheese sticks. It is obvious that children's cheese sticks are high in protein, fat and added sugar:

According to the Dietary Reference Intakes for Chinese Residents (DRIs 2013), children aged 3 to 6 years old need to consume 30g of protein per day. , the recommended total fat intake is about 27-48g.

Regarding added sugars, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults and children consume no more than 25 grams of added sugars per day.

It can be seen that children’s daily protein intake still depends on a balanced diet. If you want to supplement your protein with cheese sticks, you will consume too much fat and sugar.

We calculated that eating three cheese sticks is close to half of a child’s daily sugar intake. If you eat and drink some other snacks or drinks, you may have consumed more than 25 grams of sugar.

Merchants promote children’s cheese sticks as calcium supplements in the same way as they promote protein supplements.

However, parents should note that some sodium-containing additives are often added during the production and processing of processed cheese to promote cheese shaping and maintain moisture.

When purchasing cheese sticks, you need to weigh the calcium and sodium content. After all, we want our children to consume more calcium and reduce the burden of sodium.

To determine the amount of calcium and sodium, you can look at the calcium-sodium ratio. A high ratio means that children consume less sodium when supplementing calcium.

We sent 16 cheese sticks to a lab to test calcium and sodium content and calculated the calcium-to-sodium ratio. The results are as follows:

It is important to draw the key points here. You should choose children's cheese sticks with a high calcium-to-sodium ratio.

Having said so much, let’s finally teach you how to choose cheese.

1. When giving cheese to children, it is recommended that you make sure the product type is cheese.

For cheese, you can choose the types recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics: cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, cheese sticks, and cottage cheese.

We also know that it is difficult for Chinese people to adapt to the taste of cheese. Letting children eat cheese requires parents to pay more attention when making it.

2. If you want to give children's cheese sticks to your children, it is recommended that they should not exceed 3 sticks a day.

3. Whether it is cheese or processed cheese, you must follow the principle of two highs and two lows when purchasing, that is, higher protein and calcium, lower fat and sodium, so you generally won’t make the wrong choice. La~

[1]https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Fat-Salt-and-Sugar-Not-All-Bad.aspx

[2] https://www.who.int/news/item/04-03-2015-who-calls-on-countries-to-reduce-sugars-intake-among-adults-and-children

[3]https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/The-5-Food-Groups-Sample-Choices.aspx