Popularity contest
There aren't a whole lot of people who don't like cheese (my husband's uncle being the only exception I know of personally). So fortifying something with such wide appeal with a vitamin that so many people are deficient in certainly sounds like a brilliant plan. After all, milk is already fortified with vitamin D, so adding it to cheese is a logical next step. In fact, I'm surprised that it took so long. Then again, vitamin D only recently became "popular" with the mainstream, since they could no longer deny the nutrient's overwhelming resume of benefits, from protecting against osteoporosis to slashing cancer risk. But adding this popular vitamin to that popular food actually ISN'T a popular choice among natural medicine practitioners. You see, dairy products -- including cheese -- are frequent culprits behind a laundry list of health problems, including recurrent infections, elevated prostate cancer risk, and even increased fracture risk. So, as tasty as it is, you're much better off avoiding cheese altogether -- vitamin D fortified or not. The best source of vitamin D will always be the sun. Dr. Wright recommends getting enough sun exposure on your bare (sunscreen-free) face and arms to turn your skin just slightly pink. At that point, head back into the shade. And for those of us who live in areas where the sun's rays aren't strong enough to give us all the vitamin D we need (and that includes everyone north and south of the actual Equator), it's also a good idea to take an extra 4,000 IU ("International Units") daily for adults and teenagers, 1,000 IU for infants and small children, and 2,000 IU for everyone in between. Source:
"Vitamin D3 stable for fortifying cheese," NutraIngredients (www.nutraingredients.com), 8/18/08 | 
