Local cheese, label and adulteration

[Amazoniac]

I've been trying to figure something about my local dairy.
I buy cheese (that resembles queso fresco that you can find in the USandA) from a reliable farmer. The cows are fed exclusively on grass, are free and live in very hot weather (almost as hot as pboy). But then, at the label comes the odd part:
In each 30g, you have:
100kcal
Carbohydrates 1g
Proteins 5g
[highlight=yellow]Total Fats 6g
Sat Fats 2g
Trans Fats 0g[/highlight]
Fiber 0g
Sodium 126mg

The trans fats could be explained by a low enough serving to not show them up. But the proportion of saturated to unsaturated is really weird. I cannot think of anything other than adulterated label, which seems the only plausible explanation for me. On a side note, our coconut oil that is highly saturated (unlike a lot of places around the globe that force the trees to grow outside their natural environment) is adverstised as healthy because they contain minuscule amounts of PUFA. So, why the cheese's label wouldn't be adulterated?
Does anyone have any opinion?
There's no heat involved in the process by the way.

 

[Agent207]

Sat fat should be around 3gr, shouln't it?

Bear in mind grass fed animals use to result in products a bit higher in PUFAs and lower in saturated/cholesterol than grain feed ones. I don't think in that as bad in this case in particular.

 

[milk_lover]

I am guessing the rest of fat (~4 g) is mostly monounsaturated fat which I think some here view them as inflammatory as PUFA but certainly with less degree. But I am not entirely sure here.

post 111257 The cows are fed exclusively on grass, are free and live in very hot weather (almost as hot as pboy)

I agree pboy is hot, but would cows living in hot weather be any advantageous? More vitamin D in the cheese?

 

[Amazoniac]

I meant for the effects of the saturation of their milk.
As a comparison, most of the cheeses around, I would say 80% of them have about, for each 30g, 7g of fats and 5g of those being saturated. So, I'm wondering about the possible reasons why that specific cheese has that profile (or doesn't and it has the label adulterated)..

 

[milk_lover]

post 111265 I meant for the effects of the saturation of their milk.
As a comparison, most of the cheeses around, I would say 80% of them have about, for each 30g, 7g of fats and 5g of those being saturated. So, I'm wondering about the possible reasons why that specific cheese has that profile (or doesn't and it has the label adulterated)..

Oh got you more heat more saturation. Maybe they want to sell their product to people majority of whom still think saturated is bad, so they either not report the real percentage of saturated fat or as you said they mix with other oils.

 

[milk_lover]

or maybe since it's local dairy, they didn't have the intricate equipments to measure the fat profile of their products accurately.. What do you feel after eating this cheese?

 

[Amazoniac]

I have no standards to compare how I feel because this is the only cheese I (still) trust. (Hi, Dan!)
The product is not adultarated for sure. The puzzle is at the label, and that made me question the farmers reliability. But maybe I'm missing something that could explain it..

 

[Amazoniac]

Oh, but I should add that I experience some reactions that I used to feel in the past whenever I ate more PUFA than normal, and that is acne and a strange smell on my skin (coming from the lipids on it); way before I even knew what PUFAs were and that Ray existed. But then I thought, how is this possible if - return to my original question on the top..

 

[milk_lover]

maybe because the weather is hot, the cows seek air condition and the fat turns to unsaturated

 

[milk_lover]

Sometimes I get acne because of histamine. Do you get any histamine release symptoms?

 

[Amazoniac]

I have no idea, but react in the same day if I have a PUFA-rich meal, lasts about 2-3 days to clear.
But regarding histamine, it's a fresh cheese, so I don't think it's that high..

I've considered a lot of things so far but none of them would explain.
It's a waste of time to discuss this with him because he wouldn't be interested in details. He's a humble person, ignorant in nutrition but full of wisdom.
I've considered even something with their breed, but it's unlikely. I'm hallucinating..

 

[Amazoniac]

I could try from another farmer and compare my response to them. But the question will remain: why (and how) does it have that profile?

 

[Giraffe]

post 111303 why (and how) does it have that profile?

I would expect 2 g unsaturated fat. Could it be a typo?

 

[Amazoniac]

post 111318

post 111303 why (and how) does it have that profile?

I would expect 2 g unsaturated fat. Could it be a typo?

I haven't thought about that, but it's unlikely.
It's worth noting that it's an artisan cheese, so the inspections are weaker, especially for something related to the label.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Amazoniac]

Brief update:
By some serendipity I was able to find another farmer as reliable as the one being discussed. His dairy has the same quality: cows feeding exclusively on grass, free and hot weather.
They are the same type of cheese, like I mentioned, the closer reference to compare is queso fresco. I tried and to my suprise I didn't have the reactions that I had to the other, quite the opposite. Overall skin quality was better, no weird smell and no acne. Weird.
It's worth commenting that the cheese was as rigid as a brick, haha. But I don't attribute this to its fats profile. I suspect it has something to do with the protein and how they process the cheese (artisan also).

Anyway, since pictures express better than words, I've attached their label.
For some reason one of them appear rotated but my file wasn't. The rebel one.

ps. those are just paper towels to create contrast, not the cheese..

 

[milk_lover]

Glad the new cheese you tried is working well for you and it seems to have a good fat profile too. I am not saying the rebel one (edit: the original cheese not the rebel sorry) has a bad profile, but it's good to be clear on what you're ingesting.

 

[Amazoniac]

The brick one from the upside down image just doesn't feel right, even though I didn't have any apparent reaction to it on the short term, I had a bit of digestive upset that I think won't be beneficial in the long term, especially consuming it frequently.
Edit: forgot to mention that it's a cheesed salt, not a salted cheese as you can confirm from the label.
And I'm still trying to find another possible explanation for that strange fat profile..

 

[milk_lover]

post 111711 The brick one from the upside down image just doesn't feel right, even though I didn't have any apparent reaction to it on the short term, I had a bit of digestive upset that I think won't be beneficial in the long term, especially consuming it frequently.
Edit: forgot to mention that it's a cheesed salt, not a salted cheese as you can confirm from the label.
And I'm still trying to find another possible explanation for that strange fat profile..

Why don't you ask the owner of the local company? You can call him and change your voice (better with high-pitched voice for further misleading) so this way he won't know it's you and your relationship with him remains intact. We need to get to the bottom of this.
Also, what is the difference between cheesed salt and salted cheese?

 

[Jenn]

Grasses in summer or hot temperatures are naturally higher in PUFAs, so the warmer the weather, the higher the pufa's. This is also why summer milk is oranger than winter milk, higher betacarotenes. Dairy fat does usually contains a mix of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. The best milk or cheese is going to come from cooler climates...like Wisconsin or in very early spring when the the fresh grass is growing but the temps are still cool. In my areas, that is usually late march/early april. Vitamin E can help the cow convert more pufa's to saturated fat.

Keep in mind, with cheese, it's very concentrated. It can be easier to digest because it's kind of pre digested, but it can be harder to assimilate (transit through the intestines) than milk. Hard cheeses tend to be lower in fat than some soft cheeses too.

Beef meat harvested in summer will have yellow fat that is soft. Beef harvested in winter (where is gets below 40* consistently) will be white and hard. Goats convert beta carotene to vitamin A much more efficiently and are probably a better choice if you are really wanting to avoid pufa's for milk and meat in always warm climates. (That's my personal guess based on my personal experience only. I have only butchered one goat myself in October and it was very white, hard fat.)

 

[Amazoniac]

post 111763 Grasses in summer or hot temperatures are naturally higher in PUFAs, so the warmer the weather, the higher the pufa's. This is also why summer milk is oranger than winter milk, higher betacarotenes. Dairy fat does usually contains a mix of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. The best milk or cheese is going to come from cooler climates...like Wisconsin or in very early spring when the the fresh grass is growing but the temps are still cool. In my areas, that is usually late march/early april. Vitamin E can help the cow convert more pufa's to saturated fat.

Keep in mind, with cheese, it's very concentrated. It can be easier to digest because it's kind of pre digested, but it can be harder to assimilate (transit through the intestines) than milk. Hard cheeses tend to be lower in fat than some soft cheeses too.

Beef meat harvested in summer will have yellow fat that is soft. Beef harvested in winter (where is gets below 40* consistently) will be white and hard. Goats convert beta carotene to vitamin A much more efficiently and are probably a better choice if you are really wanting to avoid pufa's for milk and meat in always warm climates. (That's my personal guess based on my personal experience only. I have only butchered one goat myself in October and it was very white, hard fat.)

So kind of you, Jenn. Thank you!
Interestingly, the butter from that milk is bright yellow, a deep yellow; it doesn't appear to be that hard too.
If I understood you correctly, you are saying that the carotenes affect directly the degree of saturation of the fats in milk, but doesn't that goes against the common sense that the milk must prepare the offspring to their local environment (this applies to plants as well, even considering that they affect all the chain)? And how the unsaturation of carotenes affect the fat profile? They must be carried in the intestines by lipoproteins to be delivered in tissues, right? How and when they interact with the fats in tissues to unsaturate them?
Don't mind so many questions, you just shook my ground..