Cheesy and Fondue learn about the most popular cheeses. We talk about consumption and production. We discuss another recall, a contest, the Big Moo and Chuck-e. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!

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136 Show Notes

https://www.wisconsincheeseman.com/blog/cheese-nation/popular-cheeses-world/

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cheese-consumption-by-country

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/dairy-data/

https://www.dairyfoods.com/media/photos/92-mozzarella-is-america-s-cheese

https://today.yougov.com/consumer/articles/34539-americas-favorite-cheese

https://dairycheckoffpodcast.com/podcast/episode-31-how-is-dairy-changing-the-truth-about-u-s-dairy-consumption/

Cheesy Public Service

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/06/grande-cheese-company-recalls-over-a-million-and-a-half-pounds-of-whey-and-dairy-products-over-salmonella-concerns/

This week in Cheese

https://daiyafoods.com/pages/dairy-free-tour

https://thebigmoocheese.com

Chuck-e-Cheese

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/news/springfield-illinois-chuck-e-cheese-location-animatronic-band/

>> Cheesy: Just Cheesy the podcast presented by Just

Cheesy Productions.

>> Fondue: Hi, there. I'm your host, Fondue.

>> Cheesy: I'm Cheesy

>> Fondue: In this week's episode, we're going to learn all about the most

popular cheeses. We're talking about

consumption and production. Well, we're going to discuss

another recall.

>> Cheesy: Oh, no.

>> Fondue: A contest. The big moves, and Chuck

E. Chuck E. And of course, no episode would be

complete without our very cheesy joke.

Stay tuned for episode 136,

popular on just Cheesy, the

podcast.

According to an article on Wisconsinche

man.com, comma, the most popular cheeses in the

world. They claim the genetics are the reason why

cheese consumption may vary by country.

>> Cheesy: Really?

>> Fondue: The article claims that most of the world's population

is actually lactose intolerant. According to

the article, once a child stops getting milk from their

mother, the body will actually reduce production

of something called lactase. And this is necessary

for digesting milk. and it says here, because of

varying protein sources in different regions of the world,

that people indigenous to any area learn to

adapt. Apparently, 95% of Caucasians

are lactase retentive.

>> Cheesy: What's that mean?

>> Fondue: They can continue to properly digest dairy.

>> Fondue: It's about 50% for people of african

descent and only about 5% of East

Asians. And they say here, that's why you almost never find

milk, cheese, or dairy in asian foods.

>> Cheesy: Wow.

>> Fondue: And when you look at the popularity of cheese throughout the

world, this actually starts to make sense.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: First of all, in the world, the United

States doesn't even make the top ten.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: According to

worldpopulationreview.com, there's

a chart that actually gives the cheese consumption by

country in 2024.

>> Cheesy: Whoa.

>> Fondue: And this is per pound per capita.

>> Cheesy: What's per capita?

>> Fondue: Per person.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: Um. It's not actually looking at the

overall consumption for the country. It's looking at

the per person amount. Okay, number ten is

the Netherlands at 42.7 pounds

per person. Number nine, Estonia.

Number eight, Italy. Number seven,

Switzerland. Then we have Finland, Greece,

Iceland, Luxembourg. Number two is

Germany. And number one at

57.9 pounds. You guessed

it, France.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: The United States comes in at number twelve at

36.6 pounds per person.

>> Cheesy: Wow.

>> Fondue: We've got a few honorable mentions. Okay, we've got number

14, Canada.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: The UK comes in at number 18 at

21.1 pounds. Saudi Arabia

is 20th, Russia is 21st.

I find this one a little bit surprising, but Mexico is

24th with only 8.7 pounds.

>> Cheesy: Really?

>> Fondue: I mean, Mexico has great cheese, so I don't understand

why it's so low.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Japan is at 28 with only 5.3

pounds. China is at 35

with 0.7 pounds.

>> Cheesy: Oh, wow.

>> Fondue: And with all of that paneer, India doesn't even make the

top 40.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: Now, if you're talking overall consumption as a country, the

United States is looking at

5583 kilotons

per year.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: And while we don't consume the most cheese, we

definitely produce the most.

>> Cheesy: Oh, yeah.

>> Fondue: According to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, the

US leads the world in cheese production at

11.1 billion

pounds every year.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: The next closest only has

4.81 billion. And that's

Germany. France has 4.27, and

Italy is at 2.55. Of course,

the leading cheese producing state is Wisconsin.

>> Cheesy: Wisconsin? Yeah.

>> Fondue: And it says here, if the state of Wisconsin were a country,

it would rank fourth in terms of world

cheese production at 2.86

billion pounds.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: That's ahead of Italy. And surprisingly,

Italy is fourth. But it actually houses the

world's most popular cheese, Parmigiano

reggiano. The second most popular cheese in

the world is Camembert, and that's from France. Uh,

and third is Emmental from Germany.

>> Cheesy: Whoa.

>> Fondue: Now, in order to find out what the most popular cheese in the

US is, I've found a couple of different sources.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: A poll was conducted in 2021,

and it had about 8000 us adults.

They asked their favorite cheese tied at

five, we have pepper Jack and Colby Jack

at 7%. At number four, we have

Swiss at 8%. At number three, we have

mozzarella at nine.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: At number two, we have american at

13%. Cheddar is number one at

19%. However, according to

the USDA, these numbers change. When you

talk about per capita consumption.

>> Cheesy: Really?

>> Fondue: I'm geeking out over a spreadsheet. I've got to

be honest, though, it is actually pretty cool. There's two different sections

here. There's one from 1970 to 1994,

and then there's 1995 to 2022.

So there's a lot of data here.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Our cheese consumption has increased dramatically

since 1970.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Back in 1970, our total cheese consumption,

not including american cheese, was

11.37 pounds per person.

And according to this spreadsheet, in

2022, we were at

40.14 pounds per person.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: And if we look back in 1970, cheddar was the

most popular cheese. And it was four times more

popular than mozzarella, which is

today's most popular cheese. Now,

our second favorite cheese is cheddar. Out of that

40 pounds we consume every year,

11.37 pounds of that is cheddar.

But mozzarella is coming in at about

12.55 pounds per person. The

next closest individual cheese is cream cheese at

three pounds per person, according to

dairyfoods.com. they agree mozzarella is

number one. Cheddar is number two. Other American. And

again, we're not talking about kraft singles. We're

talking about things like Colby, Monterey, and Jack.

Then it seems to go provolone, Swiss,

Parmesan, ricotta and Hispanic.

Muenster and blue cheese, Romano. Other

Italian and brick. Manufacturers of

mozzarella are not sponsors, but if they were, their

ad would go right here.

Have you ever wanted to listen to the web?

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Well, newsly makes that possible.

>> Cheesy: They do.

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Android.

>> Cheesy: Super app.

>> Fondue: You can listen to trending articles on the web on

topics that you choose and get them read to you in

a natural human voice.

>> Cheesy: What kind of topics?

>> Fondue: Sports, tech, business, science, cheese.

I'm sure there's even cheese. They even

have an entire section for podcasts.

>> Cheesy: Are we there?

>> Fondue: Of course we are. It's one of my new favorite

podcast apps. They even have digital radio.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: Just go to www. Dot newsly.

Dot me to download it free or use

the link in the description. If you use the promo code.

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>> Cheesy: Cheesy.

>> Fondue: That'll get you one month free premium subscription.

>> Cheesy: Yay, newsly.

>> Fondue: Now back to the podcast.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but as of June

14, there was another recall.

>> Cheesy: Oh, no.

>> Fondue: Seven. According to

foodsafetynews.com, comma Grande Cheese

company recalls over a million and a half pounds

of whey and dairy products over salmonella.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: We have a link in our show notes to the recalled products

and their code information.

>> Cheesy: Check it out.

>> Fondue: It's time for my favorite segment this week in

cheese. Are you lactose intolerant and you

still love cheese?

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: well, there's a company called Daiya, foods. They're

currently on tour visiting 40 cities

across the United States. They have a

really cool contest. They're looking for what they're

calling the MVP, the vice president

of melting. They say it's an honorary roll,

but it comes with an impressive

$20,000 cash payment.

>> Cheesy: Holy cow.

>> Fondue: 20 grand and you get a year's supply of

cheese.

>> Cheesy: Yum.

>> Fondue: In order to apply, you have to create a cheesy

recipe using their products.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: You have to meet them at one of the stops on their tour. You

have to scan the QR code on their MVP

posters.

>> Cheesy: Got it.

>> Fondue: And you have to fill out a form with a photo of

your recipe. ooh they're going to announce the winner in December.

>> Cheesy: Wow.

>> Fondue: M. We have a link to their website which includes a map of

where they're going to be in our show notes. I went to

Google trends today to see what was the most popular

cheese related thing.

>> Cheesy: Okay.

>> Fondue: One of the related queries came up. The big

moo cheese.

>> Cheesy: ooh

>> Fondue: and, wow, this query did not disappoint.

Yeah, this is a cheese that's like halloumi. You

can grill it or bake it, and what they show here is

just amazing.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: You know how you put marshmallows on a stick and then you put it over a

fire?

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Well, they've got their cheese on a stick melting

over an open fire. Oh, my gosh.

>> Cheesy: Oh, my.

>> Fondue: And they have a grilled cheese pizza.

>> Cheesy: Yum.

>> Fondue: you use this cheese as the base.

>> Cheesy: What?

>> Fondue: And then there's marinara and other toppings on

top. It looks like you can buy it on their

website. And they ship two day express right to

your door.

>> Cheesy: Yum.

>> Fondue: I can't even begin to tell you how yummy this looks,

so you're going to have to take yourself over to

thebigmoocheese.com.

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Do you remember last year when we announced the Chuck E.

Cheese was taking their animatronic band out of

all but one of their locations?

>> Cheesy: Yeah.

>> Fondue: Well, never fear, they're keeping a few

more.

>> Cheesy: Yay.

>> Fondue: They're gonna have one in Springfield, Illinois, in Long

Island, New York, and in Charlotte, North Carolina.

>> Cheesy: I'm ready for a joke Fondue.

>> Fondue: Okay, why is swiss cheese

losing popularity?

>> Cheesy: No idea.

>> Fondue: Because its personality is full of holes.

Oh, get it? Swiss holes.

>> Cheesy: It's dorky.

>> Fondue: Yep, it's dorky. And a little bit

cheesy.

Thanks for listening to just cheesy. The podcast

episode 136. Popular.

>> Cheesy: Thank you.

>> Fondue: Check out our instagram, where we finally posted our

pictures of american cheese.

>> Cheesy: And stay cheesy, everybody.