Norwegian town bans sugary goat cheese at schools, upsets residents

HORTEN, Norway, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A southern Norway town has banned "brunost," sweet brown goat cheese, from being served in kindergartens, sparking controversy, officials said.

Brunost, a beloved treat in Norway, is made of the whey of goat's milk, rather than the curds, as well as sugar and chocolate, and has been banned for children in Horten, TheLocal.no reported Friday.

"Brunost contains so much sugar," Linda Jakobsen, head of the local municipality's unit for young people, told NRK. "Brunost may taste good, but it contains nothing that a child's body can make use of. Chocolate spread tastes good too, but we don't recommend that either."

Some Horten residents are upset over the ban.

"This is an insane suggestion," Tore Landbo, a local businessman in the Horten area, wrote in the comments section of the local Gjengangeren newspaper. "What kid has ever suffered from eating goat's cheese? And whose idea is it that children are healthy and strong, just because they are thin? No, let the kids get brown cheese and start doing more activity."

"We don't want not revolutionize food intake, but only normalize it," Jakobsen said, defending her decision. "Parents are welcome to give their kids brunost at home, but then it's better that they don't get it in kindergartens and schools as well."