Land O’Lakes ‘Busts’ Process Cheese Myths
by Donald E. Pszczola
posted on June 9, 2009
Common misperceptions regarding process cheese were debunked by Land O’Lakes, Booth 1723, at a press conference held on Monday morning. A food technologist for the company, Paul Hughes, led the session, “Busting the Myths of Process Cheese.”
Hughes explained how process cheese is made from high-quality natural cheese, and that its customizable flavor and performance characteristics such as melt and composition make it a versatile, easy-to-use ingredient. A range of varieties were tasted and compared to their natural cheese counterparts, including Brie, Swiss, and Cheddar.
In his presentation, Hughes addressed many misconceptions, including the myth that process cheese isn’t real cheese. “Process cheese is not an analog or imitation cheese,” he said. “It is made from real natural cheeses, blended with other dairy ingredients, water, and emulsifiers. This gives it more stability and better performance than natural cheese in many applications, particularly when heat is applied.”
While some manufacturers may use trim, off-grade, or low-quality cheese as a means to control input costs, Land O’Lakes® Process Cheese is made from high-quality natural cheese such as Cheddar, aged and graded specifically for optimum performance in each customer’s product, noted Hughes. He added that FDA classifications are not necessarily assurances of quality. While FDA classifications describe the characteristics of products within certain classes, quality of individual products depends on the quality of the raw materials and the process employed.
Hughes also demonstrated how the “customizability” of process cheese gives food developers much greater latitude in formulating new types of products than with natural cheese. An example is Land O’Lakes Reduced-Fat, Reduced-Sodium Process American Cheese, which enables the creation of “better-for-you” products that deliver authentic cheese taste. This ingredient contains 50% less fat and 35% less sodium than traditional process cheese without compromising the authentic cheese flavor, creamy mouthfeel, and excellent melt characteristics for which process cheese is noted. It also has less cholesterol, fewer calories, and more calcium than regular process cheese and can be customized to meet preferences for color, flavor, melt, and pack size.
Representatives are available at the booth to discuss how these ingredient solutions can help formulators create better-for-you products with desirable attributes such as flavor, mouthfeel, texture, and color. Potential applications, such as snack powders, seasonings, sauces, and other products are explored as well.