Planned billboard criticizes cheese

DE PERE - Cheese is getting a bad rap by a national non-profit group targeting Green Bay Packers fans.

The group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, suggests cheese is not only unhealthy, but it should be avoided.

The Dairy State, though, likes its cheese and for good reason. Wisconsin turns out more cheese than any other state. And fans eat it up.

"I buy cheese every time I shop. I just love cheese," said Christine VanGomber of Green Bay, while picking out cheese at Festival Foods.

Now anti-cheese advocates are offering up the grim reaper wearing a cheese hat, and the warning: Cheese can sack your health.

“Cheese and other dairy products are the biggest contributor to saturated fat to the American diet," said Dr. Neal Barnard, president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "So the healthiest people don't eat cheese at all. So the more cheese-free meals you have, the better off you're going to be."

The non-profit group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is paying for a single billboard to go up in De Pere along Highway 41 that will greet Packers fans and other motorists heading north toward Lambeau Field.

The group is pro-vegan - and does not endorse any animal-derived products in one's diet.

But will cheese sack your health? We raised the question with registered dietitian Roxanne Denneau.

"Cheese is not going to sack your health alone. No food by itself is potentially going to sack your health," said Denneau.

Denneau says cheese is a good source of calcium and protein. But the key to any diet is moderation.

"What you need is a wide variety of foods in your diet. Cheese can be included," said Denneau.

Cheese consumption in the United States is about three times higher than it should be at nearly 33 pounds per person a year, according to dietitians.

Another problem raised from the planned billboard is the cheese…head.

Foamation, out of St. Francis near Milwaukee, owns the rights to the image and did not give approval for its use.

"Surely I don't want anything to do with allowing people to put the cheesehead on the grim reaper," said Ralph Bruna, owner of Foamation, who has his lawyer looking into having the cheesehead removed.

• UPDATE: The billboard has gone up without the cheesehead hat. Click here to see a photo.

The billboard did not go up Monday as planned on account of the rainy and windy weather conditions. But officials with the billboard company, Next Media, say it should go up Tuesday.