Understanding Ellen White

Statement 4: Dangers of eating cheese

“Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach,” wrote Ellen White in 1868 to a couple with specific health conditions aggravated by their “too rich” diet. ²⁰ In 1881, however, she distinguished between the group of “tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol,” which were to be “discarded” as “sinful indulgences,” and the less objectionable “meat, eggs, butter, [and] cheese,” which were not to be entirely prohibited or treated as a “test” of character. ²¹ Her last published reference to cheese, in 1905, maintained that “it is wholly unfit for food.” ²² Presumably these references to “cheese” referred to common yellow cheese, because a family who ate at Elmshaven after 1900 reported that she often served cottage or cream cheese at her table, but never yellow cheese, ²³ although White admitted eating yellow cheese occasionally in earlier years. ²⁴ UEGW 183.3

Ellen White’s characterization of sharp or aged yellow cheese as “unfit for food” was true in the nineteenth century. Legitimate concerns, including unhygienic dairy conditions, lack of pasteurization, and hazardous methods of aging cheese, have been largely alleviated in developed countries. If she were living today, with improved processing, sanitation, and preservation, she might be more moderate in her condemnation. However, other issues may have continuing relevance. Cheese is often high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Tyramine compounds that accumulate in cheese during aging can trigger hypertension and possibly other effects. ²⁵ In view of widespread heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and continuing decline in bovine health, the healthfulness of cheese in the quantities often used remains open to question. UEGW 183.4