NYC's vegan mayor says people can get 'hooked on cheese' just like heroin

In a press conference on Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed several health-related issues - and once again encouraged New Yorkers to pursue a plant-based diet.

"The more plant-based you eat the better and healthier you are," Adams said. The mayor has been vocal about his love for his plant-based diet which he switched to in order to cure his diabetes. Although the mayor admitted he sometimes eats fish.

After the press conference, Adams conducted a how-to on making his vegan chili where he raised eyebrows by comparing cheese to heroin.

"Food is like a drug. You take someone on heroin, put them in one room, and someone hooked on cheese, put [them] in another room, and you take it away, I challenge you to tell me the person who's hooked on heroin and who's hooked on cheese," Adams said.

Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference on Monday to address making New Yorkers healthier Fox 5 New York / YouTube

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The mayor did not state which study he was referencing but a 2015 University of Michigan study was mistakenly cited as claiming cheese was as addictive as cocaine. The study ranked cheese as one of the more difficult foods to cut down according to participants surveyed.

The study did not compare the addictive nature of cheese to the addictive properties of cocaine.

Part of Monday's press conference was to announce the rollout of the healthier lifestyle medicine service for New Yorkers. The service would focus on lifestyle factors like food and exercise as a treatment and prevention for illness.

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