Creamy and slightly salty, spreadable cheese is a basic everyday product that we love. But be careful: not all of them are good for your health. Only one of them – rated 75/100 by the Yuka application – seems to stand out from the other spreadable cheeses, as Yuka confirms. “Overall, cheeses are fatty and salty and therefore often poorly rated on Yuka. But you might as well avoid those that also contain additives, right?can we read in a video published on Instagram.
A garlic and herb spread cheese wins the best rating
Among the spreadable cheeses sold in the supermarket, the Yuka application has set its sights on one product in particular: the 0% garlic and fine herb spreadable cheese from Carré Frais.
Indeed, the latter obtains the excellent score of 75/100 for its healthy composition. Rich in protein, it is also free of additives, unlike its comrades. Inside these small individual fresh cheeses, we find skimmed milk, salt, garlic, parsley, chives, pepper, lactic ferments and natural flavoring. And that’s it! But this very short list of ingredients should not push you to buy other processed cheeses: most are particularly rich in additives and saturated fatty acids.
Processed cheeses: what do they contain?
To understand their composition, nothing could be simpler: just take a look at the list of their ingredients: pasteurized milk, water, fermented milk, cream, butter, skimmed milk powder, cast iron salts (polyphosphates, sodium phosphates, calcium phosphates, sodium citrates, citric acid, etc.) lactic ferments, milk proteins, salt, stabilizer (pectins)… A long list, which sends shivers down your spine.
Indeed, if many of us naturally turn to these individual portions, the cast iron salts (a food additive) they contain can notably disrupt the assimilation of mineral salts by the body – which nevertheless plays a crucial role.
Finally, butter, very present in processed cheeses (it often comes in 2, 3 or 4th position in the list of ingredients) makes them particularly rich in saturated fatty acids, which contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases.
So you will have understood: apart from the 0% garlic and fine herb spreadable cheese from Carré Frais, “industrial cheeses should be avoided“, confirms Alexandra Murcier, dietician-nutritionist.