Silicone–Based Chemical in Pizza Hut's Cheese
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The Milkweed Dairy’s best marketing info and insight Issue No. 318, January 2006 Silicone–Based Chemical in Pizza Hut’s Cheese —Polymethylsiloxane The 900 ppm of Polydimethylsiloxane in and allows concentration of up to 10 parts per mil- Leprino’s “Pizza Cheese” that Pizza Hut puts on lion active silicone (Polydimethylsiloxane) in non by John Bunting its pizzas is 90 times FDA’s legal limit for indirect standardized foods.” Section 173.310 is limited to Last month, The Milkweed detailed how residues of that chemical in food products. boiler water additives in food processing plants Pizza Hut restaurants illegally claim to use “Moz- and has nothing to do with cheese or cheese-type zarella” cheese on certain menu items, when in Follow the trail of evidence … products that a consumer might ingest. fact, Pizza Hut’s salt, starch and water-laden Trace the evidence … from Pizza Hut back to Clearly, Leprino Foods’ use of Dow-Corning “Pizza Cheese” does not conform to FDA stan- Leprino Foods’ patents. Antifoam FG 10 as an agent contained in an aqueous dards of identity for Mozzarella. Start with an empty box of “Pizza Cheese” lib- solution sprayed directly on “cheese granules” does In this issue, writer John Bunting details how erated from a dumpster behind a Pizza Hut. The con- not conform with FDA’s rules governing ingredients Pizza Hut’s cheese supplier—Leprino Foods— tents were Pizza Hut’s “Pizza Cheese.” Weight (when used in human foods. uses a silicone-based industrial chemical in the full): 15 lbs. The box contains a statement noting In The Federal Register of April 17, 1997 (Vol- patented manufacturing of “Pizza Cheese.” That the product is “packaged exclusively for use by Pizza ume 62, Number 74), FDA published a document chemical—Polymethylsiloxane—has no FDA ap- Hut Inc., its franchises and licensees.” titled, “Substances Generally Recognized as Safe: proval for use as a food ingredient. Leprino Foods is obviously the supplier. The Proposed Rule.” That document details fundamen- Polymethylsiloxane is sold by Dow-Corning USDA plant number (identifying the cheese plant at tals of GRAS rules on food ingredients: as “Antifoam FG 10”. THIS MATERIAL IS AP- which the product was made) is “Plant No. 26-930.” “In 1958, in response to public concern about PROVED BY FDA FOR USE IN FOOD PLANTS That’s Leprino’s plant at Allendale, Michigan. the increased use of chemicals in foods and food pro- ONLY AS AN ANTI-FOAMING AGENT FOR The box also notes “U.S. Patent No. 4894245 cessing and with the support of the food industry, BOILER WATER. and other patents pending.” Leprino Foods received Congress enacted the Food Additives Amendment In its patented manufacturing process, U.S. patent #4894245 for “coated cheese granules” (the 1958 amendment) to the act. The basic thrust of Leprino Foods liberally sprays in 1990 (among many other “cheesy” patents that the 1958 amendment was to require that, before a Polydimethylsiloxane on “cheese granules”. Leprino holds). That patent’s abstract states: new additive could be used in food, its producer dem- Leprino’s “Pizza Cheese” supplied to Pizza Huts “Coated frozen cheese granules are prepared onstrate the safety of the additive to FDA.” contains about 900 parts per million of by freezing the granules and applying an aqueous Polymethylsiloxane: 90 times higher residue con- coating containing one or more modifying addi- Why use an “Antifoam Emulsion” on cheese? centration than FDA allows when tives.” On baking the cheese the additives in the Dow-Corning refers to FG-10 as an “Antifoam Polymethylsiloxane is used as a boiler water anti- frozen coatings distribute throughout the cheese Emulsion”. Why apply an antifoam emulsion be ap- foaming agent. to obtain modifications of flavor and other prop- plied to cheese? Part of the answer is found in Leprino Repeat: Polydimethylsiloxane has no FDA erties.” patent #5,200,216. approval as a safe food ingredient. It is a viola- The abstract from Leprino patent #4894245 That Leprino patent incorporates a process tion of FDA rules to use an unapproved ingredi- clearly states that the “aqueous coating” ent in human foods. (Polymethylsiloxane) is contained in the cheese of Continued on Page 7 Silicone is amazing stuff. In its various forms, the finished, cooked pizza—silicone-based substance silicone may “enhance” the female anatomy (ala in the cheese atop Pizza Hut pizzas. December Federal Class III Steady Leprino patent #494245 reveals detailed infor- amply-endowed actress Pamela Anderson). Silicone mation about the role of the cheese emulsifiers: The federal order Class III (cheese milk) price products can caulk seams around the bathtub to seal essentially held steady in December at $13.37/cwt., out water. Silicone compounds are used for lubri- “When the coated frozen cheese is applied to pizzas and baked thereon, the coatings will liquify up 2 cents from November. cants. However, using silicone products in human first. This permits the flavor additive and/or emulsi- The Class III outlook is uncertain coming into foods is a novel, if extra-legal, application. winter, as Chicago Mercantile Exchange traders ae Leprino Foods, the world’s largest Italian cheese fier to spread over and into the cheese particles as their outer surfaces become thawed . Cheese emul- working hard to lower cash Cheddar bids. manufacturer, is the nearly exclusive supplier of sifiers applied in this way can function to soften the USDA said the December federal order Class “Pizza Cheese” to the 6000+ Pizza Hut restaurants IV (butter-powder) price had been placed at $12.57/ in the U.S. Leprino is based in Denver, Colorado. outer portions of the cheese granules. This will im- prove melting and fusing of the granules.” cwt., down 33 cents from the November Class IV. To control costs (and boost profits), Leprino Foods Leprino patent #494245 targets the emulsifier: uses patented manufacturing processes that add large 1/06 volumes of water, salt and food starch to so-called “A silicone emulsifier (Dow Corning FG-10) is mixed with water to form a 0.05% emulsifier solution. This The Milkweed “granules” of “Pizza Cheese” prior to flash-freezing. solution is sprayed on the frozen cheese granules at a Invest in your best source for dairy news and Food starch is a particularly profitable addition to analysis. Know what’s really going on! processed foods, since food starch holds ten times its rate of 1.75 parts of solution per 100 parts by weight of cheese. This should achieve a final content of Visit our Web site: www.themilkweed.com own weight in water. All that food starch, water and To subscribe, send your check to: salt in the Leprino’s “Pizza Cheese” creates prob- around 0.09% emulsifier on the cheese.” lems for both cooking and refrigerated shelf-life. The Milkweed To “solve” these cooking problems, Leprino’s No compliance with mandatory GRAS rules P.O. Box 10 patented process for making cheese granules sprays The federal Food and Drug Administration re- 1.75 parts of a water-based spray containing 0.05% quires ingredients used in human foods to comply Brooklyn, WI 53521 Dow-Corning Antifoam FG 10 for each 100 parts with the “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) cheese. Yield: 900 parts per million of Antifoam FG rules, which specify that each food ingredient devel- $40 per year (12 issues); 10 (generically known as Polydimethylsiloxane) in oped after 1958 must meet exacting safety tests. $75 for two years, OR 2 subscriptions. “Polydimethylsiloxane” does not appear on FDA’s the “Pizza Cheese” that Leprino sells to Pizza Hut. Foreign rates, one year: Web site as a GRAS-approved food ingredient. Polydimethylsiloxane is approved by FDA in Canada: $50 U.S.; foreign air mail: $75 U.S. food industry use only as an anti-foaming agent for A call to Dow-Corning headquarters in Mid- boiler water in plants processing non-standardized land, Michigan yielded the statement that no Dow products complied with GRAS. However, informa- foods. FDA permits no use of Dow-Corning Antifoam (Name) FG 10 directly in or on foods. FDA does allow up to tion faxed by a Dow-Corning representative stated: “Dow-Corning Antifoam FG 10 complies with FDA 10 parts per million of Polydimethylsiloxane residues (Street or Rural Address) in food products, as residue from the product’s use regulation 21 CFR.173.310, which covers second- ary direct food additives used as defoaming agents as a boiler water anti-foaming agent. (City, state, ZIP) Heifer Demand STRONG, Prices Rising for Good Animals Posilac use creating more ers wanting to fill orders for heifers. Just that morn- anticipated delays in calvings (and milk production) ing (before 9 a.m.), Harrison said he’d had calls from in 2006. Sources say that California dairy producers twins and ‘Free Martins’ New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Texas look- are particularly troubled with expanding calving in- ing to buy large numbers of dairy heifers. tervals and problem breeders. by Pete Hardin Harrison figured that as the predominant dairy With cheap grain prices (and despite high costs animal broker in the Southeast, he was getting calls for hay), demand for replacement heifers by large The Milkweed’s contacts indicate that the dairy from out-of-region buyers because they couldn’t fill dairies across the country is very strong. Many of industry is witnessing very, very strong demand for orders in their regions. these large dairies cannot maintain their own cattle springing heifers and all dairy animals. Expect sig- numbers by using internally-raised replacement heif- Another anecdote: at the Topeka, Indiana heifer nificant price run-ups for good, young dairy animals. ers.