In recent years, children’s cheese stick is deeply loved by parents and children. Its beautiful packaging and sweet taste are in line with children’s preferences. Adults are also willing to buy this alleged “high calcium” snack for children. In the dairy product areas of supermarkets, cheese sticks have occupied more and more territory. But many parents have questions. Is a small cheese stick that costs a few yuan really an ideal snack that is nutritious and delicious? In the face of many cheese stick brands, how to choose them correctly?
Market
The unit price is not low, the sales volume is high, and the price difference of a single piece of the same weight can reach 2 yuan
Yesterday, the reporter visited many large supermarkets in our city and saw in a dairy freezer that bags of cheese sticks of different brands were placed in a prominent position, and the product type marked on the package was processed cheese. There are many flavors of cheese sticks. In addition to the traditional original flavor and fruit flavor, there are also the newly launched banana ice cream flavor, mixed fruit and vegetable flavor, yogurt fruit flavor and so on. On the packaging, businesses also catch children’s attention through animation images such as McQueen, Princess Aisha and super Feixia.
The reporter found in Wal mart that the price of each cheese stick varies greatly according to the content and taste. Most of the five or six cheese sticks weigh 90 to 120 grams per bag and sell for about 20 yuan. Among them, the highest price is Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co.Ltd(600882) gold cheese sticks. The price of 5 pieces of 100 grams is 22.8 yuan, which is converted to 4.56 yuan per piece; The cheapest is Mengniu Aishi Chenxi cheese stick, 100g, 5 pieces, priced at 12.5 yuan, each at 2.5 yuan.
The reporter searched on major e-commerce platforms and found that the sales volume of cheese sticks was considerable, and the sales volume exceeded 10000 in many months. For example, 25 cheese sticks with 69.9 yuan have a monthly sales volume of more than 100000 pieces Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co.Ltd(600882) 69 yuan, 25 pieces of high calcium cheese sticks, with a monthly sales volume of more than 30000 pieces. After conversion, the price of each piece is 2.76 yuan, which is 1.8 yuan cheaper than the average one purchased in the supermarket. However, compared with milk with no additives and higher nutritional value, the price of cheese stick is not cheap for 2-5 yuan per bag.
Uncover secrets
Most ingredients are mainly composed of “water”, and the content of cheese is not high
“As for children, they all like sweet and cold things. Compared with snacks such as lollipops and ice cream, cheese sticks are a better choice. They can not only supplement calcium, but also meet the needs of taste. Both children in my family like to eat, so this is also a necessary snack for our family.” Ms. Zhang told reporters that children do not like to drink milk since childhood. They are afraid that they are not tall. They often buy cheese sticks because they hear that the calcium content of cheese sticks is higher than milk.
Browsing the cheese stick products of major brands, it is not difficult to find that businesses are trying to publicize this snack as a “calcium supplement artifact”. Propaganda words such as “high calcium”, “x times the calcium content of milk” and “two pieces of calcium per day is about equal to supplementing x ml of milk” can be seen everywhere on the product packaging. However, the reporter carefully observed the ingredient list and found that the main ingredient of most cheese sticks, such as Mengniu Aishi Chenxi, baijifu and jishiding, is “water”, and there are a variety of food additives, including sodium citrate, sodium hexametaphosphate, gelatin and carrageenan. Mengniu’s cheese sunrise cheese bar has also added flavor. Among the many brands on the shelves, only Yili and Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co.Ltd(600882) Brand cheese sticks ranked first in the ingredient list, and only Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co.Ltd(600882) ingredient list ranked second for pure milk. These products with high cheese content also sell at a much higher price than those with low cheese content.
According to the relevant provisions of the provisions on the administration of food labeling (revised in 2009) and the general rules for the labeling of prepackaged food of the national standard for food safety (GB 77182011), the food ingredient list is sorted according to the content. The higher the ranking in the ingredient list, the greater the amount added. Therefore, it can be seen that the main ingredient of most cheese sticks is water, not cheese. Some even put cream ahead of cheese, which will inevitably reduce the content of cheese.
Remind
It’s still just a snack
Choose one with high “calcium sodium ratio”
What is the nutritional value of cheese sticks? What should parents pay attention to when purchasing? A nutritionist, who asked not to be named, told reporters that cheese and cheese are high calcium and high protein dairy products fermented from fresh milk. They are rich in high-quality fat and a variety of micronutrients. They are relatively good calcium source food. Children over the age of 3 can eat them in moderation.
“But it should be noted that the common cheese stick on the market is usually processed cheese, which is a cheese snack obtained by adding sugar and other food additives to the cheese.” Experts told reporters that according to the national standard, the use proportion of the main raw material cheese in the processed cheese should be greater than 15%, while the draft of the national standard issued in 2020 plans to increase this proportion to 50%. Products with a cheese content of 15% – 50% can only be called “cheese products”.
Huang Chao, a tertiary public nutritionist, said that the low content of cheese can reduce the cost, which means that there are additional ingredients in the cheese stick except cheese, such as thickener, emulsifier and spices. This also makes the taste of processed cheese better than that of original cheese, which can better meet the picky taste buds of children, but it may deviate from the original intention of consumers to pursue nutrition and health.
“Although cheese sticks can retain the calcium, protein and minerals of cheese, children need to eat them properly.” Huang Chao suggested that parents should choose products with high cheese content and cheese at the top of the ingredient list. Parents can also pay attention to the sodium content and try to choose products with high “calcium sodium ratio” to prevent excessive sodium intake. Children’s cheese sticks with more additives and sucrose are not recommended for infants under the age of 3, and children over the age of 3 had better control their daily consumption.
