Are there sneaky additives in your natural cheese? We just removed 3!

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December 15, 2023

Cheesemaking dates back thousands of years. It's one of the earliest foods, made with just milk, naturally occurring cultures, real salt, and stomach for coagulant. But, with the modern push towards industrialization and consistency and food safety, this staple food that nourished humans through the winter has become complicated and somewhat artificial, deviating from its simple and completely natural origins.

The scary part if that, even the smartest food shoppers don't know it.

Are there additives in cheese? Yes, there are. But you can't know it just by looking at the label.

Sure, in a highly processed "cheese" like Velveeta, strange non-cheese ingredients like canola oil and food starch and annatto coloring are listed on the label. It's easy to see that an ultra melty block of bright orange Velveeta is not real cheese. It's more of a cheese-like substance.

But, in more old fashioned cheeses found in stores (even organic cheeses), the labels typically have a short list of ingredients: milk, cultures, rennet, and salt. With cheese, it’s required to list the main components of a cheese. But that's not the end of the story. What about the ingredients in the ingredients. It's NOT required to disclose those minute details on the label.

Here are some things NOT required on cheese labels:

Are synthetic vitamins added to the milk? Milk often has artificial vitamin A and D added to boost the nutrition panel.

What kind of rennet is used? There are animal, plant, and microbial forms of rennet. The exact kind if not required on the label. You can learn more about types of rennet here.

What ingredients are in the rennet? Plant and microbial rennet are typically made from and contain GMOs. And even the most natural veal rennets often contain additives like sodium acetate, propylene glycol, or potassium sorbate.

What strains are in the culture? This info is especially important to those who are intolerant or allergic to specific strains of bacteria, yeast, or fungi.

What ingredients are in the culture? All cultures nowadays have maltodextrin as an ingredient. This seems to be sadly unavoidable. Maltodextrin is a sweetener and a carbohydrate with no nutritional value. It's added because the freeze dried cultures need a basic food to jumpstart them back into action.

What kind of salt is used? Many salts have anti-caking agents such as sodium aluminosilicate or magnesium carbonate added to make it free-flowing. This is starkly different from a sea salt, which is simply dried salt that has formed naturally.

Are any anti-caking agents added to shredded cheese? Common anti-caking agents are potato starch, natamycin, and cellulose.

When I get into the nitty gritty, I always want to pull back a bit and look at the bigger picture. The additives listed above are present in tiny quantities, in trace amounts. That's why the FDA doesn't require them to be disclosed.

But, my question is, if there's trace amounts of synthetic non-food ingredients in everything I eat, then are they still "trace" amounts? Has there been testing on consistent consumption of these over time? Has there been testing done on how these additives interact with each other in my body? Do we know how long additives stay in your body and where? What are the long term health consequences? I am wary that these questions are being overlooked. I mean, what if the scientific findings were negative? It would affect big food businesses in big and potentially costly ways.

If you're with me on reducing synthetics and toxins and additives whenever possible, then you likely want to dig farther than the label. If you want to know the exact ingredients in your cheese, including any trace additives, you need to ask the company and cross your fingers that they'll do the research required to answer you completely. And that requires looking at the data sheets for every ingredient used. The fact is, you can't know from the label alone.

There's good news. There are some companies out there that are going above and beyond with food transparency, and that includes Miller's Bio Farm. Here's what's super natural about our cheese:

We don't add anything to the milk. It's simply milk (and non-homogenized, too). Plus, the milk comes from cows that are 100% grass-fed, genetically tested to be A2/A2, and free of synthetic chemicals.
We list the type of rennet used.
We list the exact strains used in the culture.
We list any trace additives in the "honest disclosure" section of the product description.
We use real Celtic sea salt.
We do NOT add any anti-caking agents to our shredded cheese.

If you would like any info that's not listed, please contact us! We are happy to go above and beyond and get you the info you deserve.

And there's even better news! Our cheesemakers recently switched to a beef rennet with no additives at all. This removed 3 additives from many of our cheeses. Hooray!

Any cheese made after June 2023 has only one additive in it, the maltodextrin in the cheese cultures (gee, I wish we could find an additive-free culture!).

The only two cheeses made with the older beef rennet include the sharp cheddar (should have additive-free rennet in 2025) and the smoked cheddar (should have additive-free rennet in March 2023).

What do you look for when shopping for cheese? How do you make sure you're avoiding additives and toxins?

I'd love to hear from you. Just comment below (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear).

Our bone broth tested A+++ for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

*Originally published on 3/14/25. Updated on 4/15/25. Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the body. Depending on the metal, it can accumulate in the bones, muscle, skin, brain, etc. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment. And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you use apple cider vinegar to draw everything out and make it thick and gelatinous and nutrient rich (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead: (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. And, as we know, our poor planet is becoming more and more contaminated with toxins like these toxic heavy metals 😢 What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We need to stay vigilant and test from time to time. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We actually tested twice. As it turns out, the first test results from March had a LOQ (limit of quantification) that was to high. So, we sent new products in April for testing at a lower LOQ. The results are in! Our bone broth tested A+++ for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the actual Eurofins test results right here! For easy reference, here's a chart summarizing the results: You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<2.0 μg/kg" and "<4.0 μg/kg". The "<" indicates the limit of quantification (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So if a "<" result appears, it means that none of that metal was found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQ. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that's not provided by the test. It's also important to note that a μg/kg is a part per billion (ppb). So, for 1 μg/kg, in every billion grams of that food, there would be one gram (or 0.0000001%) of that particular heavy metal. The small numbers matter when it comes to toxic heavy metals, since it doesn't take all that much for your body to become inundated and start experiencing issues or damage. These results are excellent. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals and are within safe levels. Our amazing customers mentioned Mike Adams to me numerous times after we released the first set of broth results. Mike Adams is an outspoken consumer health advocate, investigative journalist, activist, and science lab director. It turns out Eurofins, the lab we used, is a lab that he recommends. Moreover, our results land us in his highest rating when it comes to heavy metals! I think we're doing pretty great when it comes to providing clean, natural food. But, one result did make me pause. You might be thinking what I first thought -- "But wait, you got a reading above 4.0 μg/kg for arsenic. Isn't that bad?" Let's dive in -- What's up with arsenic? First off, it's important to note that there are organic forms of arsenic as well as inorganic forms. Our body can handle the organic kind pretty well. But, the inorganic kind is carcinogenic. Our test results show the level of all arsenic, and it doesn't divide inorganic and organic. Second, as you can see from the Health Ranger rating above, your body can tolerate way more arsenic than the other three toxic heavy metals. It can handle 6x more than cadmium, 25x more than lead, and 103x more than mercury. Third, it was a mystery to me how arsenic had a reading in the ground beef but not the beef bone broth. Thankfully, that has a pretty easy explanation. Whereas lead mainly accumulates in the bones, arsenic accumulates more in the organs and muscles. And, of course, meat is muscle. And finally, it was also quite perplexing how arsenic showed in our beef as well as our chicken. You see, our beef and chicken are grown on two separate farms (hours apart) and are processed at two separate processors (also hours apart). They're fed two completely separate diets, too! My only explanation is farmland in general or maybe even our environment in general. Organic arsenic has always been naturally present in the soil and water. It's just there in small amounts. But, levels nowadays are likely higher due to overuse of products laden with inorganic arsenic over time. Starting in the 1940s, conventional farmers would include drugs filled with inorganic arsenic in the feed for pigs and chickens and turkeys to encourage fast growth and prevent disease. Ugh. This actually led to concerns about arsenic poisoning, and that that practice was banned recently, in 2016. It makes me think that all the agri-waste has contaminated our farmland a bit, perhaps in both the soil and water. And then of course there are synthetic pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that may contain inorganic arsenic. And their use on conventional farms might runoff everywhere else. Since our meats are grown on farms that have been naturally managed for some time, I think that's why our arsenic levels were so low, especially compared to conventional meat. Now, let's compare our results to food in general. Ours are extremely low. The data below is based on a few scientific studies: Arsenic: Rice contains anywhere from 90-450 ppb (that includes that rice cereal for babies, too). Meat and poultry in general typically contain 100-200 ppb. The max ours has is 6.8 ppb.Cadmium: Spinach contains 117-222 ppb. Rice contains 6-19 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10 ppb. Our has less than 2 ppb.Lead: Meat and poultry in general contain about 25 ppb. Our has less than 4 ppb.Mercury: The larger the fish, the more time it has to accumulate mercury. Swordfish and king mackerel can have about 1,000 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10-50 ppb. Ours has less than 2ppb. Wow! Putting that into perspective, it looks like our broth and meat are quite clean and extremely low in toxic heavy metals! Are you satisfied with our heavy metal results? Do you think we should take further action? Should we test other products? Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research ReviewInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herd Consumer Wellness Center Labs Heavy Metal RatingsArsenic in Meat and Animal ProductsInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herdArsenic in brown rice: do the benefits outweigh the risks?A Survey of the Levels of Selected Metals in U.S. Meat, Poultry, and Siluriformes Fish Samples Taken at Slaughter and Retail, 2017–2022Arsenic in your foodDietary exposure to cadmium from six common foods in the United StatesMercury Content in Commercially Available Finfish in the United States Author links open overlay panel

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566