Obsessive eating

Sometimes I'm on the road. And I get food cravings. I'm not even sure if they are food carvings. All I know is that I am full.I am in a hotel room. There isn't any alcohol involved. But I'm feeling deprived. Right now I would like to have chocolate - but there isn't any to be found in my Staybridge Suites Hotel. And I'm too lazy to wander down to the lobby to check out there mini-market. So I eat what I have in the fridge in my room.

In this case it is Stella Freshly Shredded 3 Cheese Italian - parmesan, asiago and romano chesse blends.

I peel off the plastic green lid and then using my fingers which have taken on crane-like qualities I scoop out a decent amount, throw back my head and open wide.
It has a bit of a bite which satisfies me for a bit. But now I start to wonder what is in my cheese?

Not sure who www.StellaCheese.com are. Some day I might check it out.

Says on the plastic container that Stella has perfected the art of cheesemaking giving me the best in authentic flavor and freshness.
Authentic? Not quite sure what they mean by that word.
Freshness? Hmm, it has been shredded, treated I'm sure with some type of anti-clumping agent and is best by 16 May 09 - 4 months away.
So what does freshness really mean in this case?

Ingredients: parmesan cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), asiago fresh cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), romano cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), powdered cellulose to prevent caking, natamycin to protect flavour.

I do like that they give some insiders info on what is the main function of the ingredient.

So I was curious what one ingredient was -  Chemical Formula: C₃₃H₄₇NO_{13 or....}

Natamycin is a fungicide used to keep cheese from getting moldy. It works by making holes in the cell membranes of fungi, so their insides leak out. It is produced by Streptomyces natalensis bacteria. It is applied to cut slices of cheese by dipping or spraying. In grated cheese, a dry mixture is used, usually with cellulose to prevent caking.

Some manufacturers use it in the wax coating on cheese rinds, instead of putting on the cheese itself.

Now I didn't make this up - you only need to go to http://sci-toys.com/index.html