In 1909, Americans consumed 5 pounds (2.27 kg)of cheese per person. In 2001, however, that answer is more than 30 pounds. Per person. That's a lot of cheese! Part of the reason are the modern conveniences — sealed bags of pre-shredded cheese to easily sprinkle on salads, vegetables or soups; pre-cut sticks of cheese are sold for easy addition to packed lunches; and miniature-sized fancy cheeses, such as Gouda, are available for bite-sized snacks or quick appetizers.
Big cheese facts:
More than half of the cheese in the United States is consumed in commercially prepared food — lunch snack packs and fast food, for instance.
In 2002, Mozzarella stepped up its game and beat out cheddar as the U.S. cheese favorite.
According to the CDC, the obesity rate in the U.S. leveled off since 2002, at about 1/3 of the population. That's about 73 million people who are 30 or more pounds overweight.
Those 73 million people are pretty evenly spaced in terms of gender and age: 32.2% are men, 35.5% are women and 31.7% are children.
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