Course:FNH200/2013w Team02 Cheese

Processed Cheese Slices

Introduction

Processed cheese is a product made from a mixture of cheese and other additives. Though some may argue that processed cheese are less flavorful and less healthier than natural cheese, it is still just as common than natural cheese. Processed cheese is quite different from natural cheese. It is interesting to note the differences between natural and processed cheese, since these differences very much contribute to differences in regulations; regulations for storage and production of natural cheese and processed cheese are very different. One aspect of processed cheese that receives a lot of attention is their additives, specifically the preservatives. We will also like to investigate the differences in nutritional value and taste that are very much a concern as well.

What is processed cheese?

Processed cheese are food products made from natural cheese, and a host of additive, including emulsifiers. They are processed quite differently from natural cheese, and during processing they begin to have longer shelf life at the expense of their flavours. This is later made up with the addition of multiple flavourings and other additives. While many different types of processed cheese do exist, they all share many common characteristics, including long shelf life, milder flavor, and low melting point thanks to emulsifiers.

Types of processed cheese

There are many different types of processed cheese depending on what type of cheese and additives are used. There combinations are almost innumerable, however, it is important to note that all processed cheese use "good cheese" rather than "bad cheese" as some may expect. Though the source ingredient, the cheese, may be different, all processed cheese go through the same processing. Processed cheese comes in many different varieties, including slices, spreads, sprays, and blocks. They exist in a variety of different flavours, colours, as textures as well.

History

Processed cheese was originally created in Switzerland over 100 years ago ); however it wasn’t until Kraft began to generate a market within North America that processed cheese became a well-known household food product.

The Kraft brother’s founded the Kraft Cheese Company in 1912. At the time their main focus was on producing and selling cheese within North America. Shortly after their start the Kraft brothers began to produce processed cheese in 3.5- and 7.75-ounce tins, as a way to make for easy storage, and extend the shelf life of cheese

In 1924, with the popularity of Kraft cheese growing rapidly in North America, Kraft decided to expand internationally by opening a sales office in London, UK. However, it wasn’t until after World War 2 (1947) when Kraft saw a significant increase in international sales. The reason for this spike in international interest came with the creation of Kraft Singles. These individually cut and packaged slices of processed cheese became an instant hit in North America, and helped Kraft branch out to become an international food brand.

The Kraft brand continued to grow globally, quickly becoming a well-known household brand, specifically tailored towards cheese, and cheese products. In 1951 Kraft reached the $1 billion dollar milestone in global sales, and has continued to grow and expand ever since.

Kraft was at the forefront of the cheese world, striving for new innovative ways to market and sell cheese and cheese products. In 1970 they came out with “Squeeze Cheese”- a semi-solid cheese product sold in tubes. Squeeze Cheese was promoted as an easy to use, spreadable cheese product. Soon after Squeeze Cheese became popular, Spray cheese was the next cheese product introduced in North America. Spray cheese was packaged in a pressurized can that contains nitrogen, which helps create a foam emulsion, giving the cheese a “whipped-cream” texture.

Currently Kraft is looking at new alternatives for preserving their cheese products, specifically with regards to processed cheese slices. The focus right now is on trying to reduce or finding an alternative to sorbic acid, this in turn would help reduce the salt content within processed cheese

Differences vs conventional cheese

Processing

The main difference between natural cheese and processed cheese is their origin and their shelf life. Processed cheese are often made with a blend of normal cheeses and then added with a host of preservatives for long lasting shelf life. During the melting process, processed cheese is also pasteurized to kill any microorganisms within the cheese which also extends to the life. Natural cheese is instead made with milk and fermented as it has always been for thousands of years.

Forms

Cheese most often comes in the form of blocks, sometimes slices, or even in shredded form. Processed cheese also comes in a host of variety and forms, the most common one being Kraft singles slices, but could also come in the form of cans, tubes or even boxes.

Accessibility

Natural cheese is often available in gourmet stores but not in a typical super market. The transportation of natural cheese is much more difficult due to the fact that cultures may still remain and the packaging may not completely protect cheese. Natural cheese are often made by securing the specific cultures for the cheese and fermenting it naturally, instead of creating the cheese and then transporting. Processed cheese in contrast is easily transported and is often in plastic packages.

Ingredient

An ingredient added to processed cheese but not in natural cheese are emulsifiers, allowing processed cheese to melt easily when exposed to heat. They are critical for the shape and stability of the processed cheese. Processed cheese also has twice as much salt for the purpose of the preservation.

Storage

Natural cheese is fermented with cultures and milk, and typically forms cheese blocks. These cheese requires proper storage and the shelf life is often short. They are considered perishable foods as their shelf life may be less than 90 days which meant they always need to be labelled. The processing time for natural cheese could be much longer than processed cheese, by virtue of the fermentation processes. Certain types of cheese can take up to weeks, months or even years to produce. Processed cheese on the other hand is much more efficient, creating plenty of slices/cans through production plants.

Laughing Cow cheese, a type of processed cheese.

Natural Cheese

Taste

In terms of taste, natural cheese has a much more varied profile, thanks to the varied source of potential fermenting agents, including molds and bacteria. Different types of cheese have different characteristic taste. Sometimes regional differences in cultures may contribute to minor differences within the same type of cheese. Processed cheese in contrast has a more blended taste profile that has little variety associated with it. In terms of cost, natural cheese is considered much more expensive due to the amount of effort and the time required to produce. Processed cheese is easily produced in assembly lines and the source materials are often easy to gather.

Natural Cheese	Laughing Cow
Ingredients: cultured milk, salt, enzyme,	pastuerized milk and cream, whey, ultrafiltered nonfat milk, less than 2% of cheese culture, natural flavor, carob bean bum, xantham gum, guar gum, salt, carrageenan, calcium phosphate, citric acid, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, carmine, modified food starch, aspartame, phenykletonurics.
Shorter shelf life (perishable to semi-perishable)	Much more extended shelf life (long term)
Costly	Cheap
Takes effort and time to produce	Mass produced
Culture may still exist	Pasteurized to kill most microorganisms
Difficult to transport, often cultures are transported instead of cheese itself	Easy to transport
Melting point depend on cheese	Low melting point

Production of processed cheese

Selection

The first step in manufacturing a product is to choose a starting material; in the case of processed cheese, that material is natural cheese. Natural cheese is any cheese which has already undergone fermentation processes and is ready to be consumed. Depending on the qualities and characteristics of the natural cheese, such as flavour, texture, consistency, or acidity, the corresponding processed cheese product will have certain qualities and properties that are unique to the natural cheese. Before processing can begin, the natural cheese must be removed from its packaging, dried, de-rinded, cleaned, and ground up.

Grind and Mix

After the natural cheese has been broken down into chunks in a grinder, the cheese is added to a double ribbon blender that has two helical-shaped blenders that spin in opposite directions to churn and mix the cheese. Also added to the double ribbon blender are milk proteins to fortify the cheese mixture. These proteins are primarily caseinates and whey protein concentrates, but skim milk powder can also be added to improve the quality and stability of the processed cheese product. Simultaneously, a mixture of butter and water that is set to a fixed ratio is added. This ratio can vary depending on the desired fat content of the processed cheese product. Emulsifying salts, salt and water, as well as other miscellaneous additives are also added to the double ribbon blender at this point. The resulting mixture is a cheese blend that contains virtually all of the ingredients that will end up in the final processed cheese product.

Melting and Pasteurization

Once the cheese blend has been thoroughly mixed, it is transferred to a cooker via an auger dump hopper system. A dump hopper is a vessel that has a large capacity for holding materials. The dump hopper lies right below the double ribbon blender so that the entire cheese blend will collect within the walls of the dump hopper. Once transferred, the cheese blend is then pumped out of the dump hopper and into a cooker. Usually a batch cooker is used, which contains sharp rotating blades and is capable of heating and shearing a cheese blend into a homogenous fluid. The batch cooker is in a vacuum environment that heats the cheese blend by direct steam injection to temperatures between 72 and 95 degrees Celsius. This heat treatment deems the cheese product “pasteurized”. Once the cheese blend is sheared and pasteurized, it is either filled into cans or pumped into a filling machine that will sort the blend into various forms of packaging. In some cases, an extra homogenization step is required before the melted cheese mixture can be ready for packaging. The filling machine sorts the hot fluid cheese blend into packages or apparatuses for cooling. For example, in order to produce sliced processed cheese, chill rollers are used. This method of cooling involves three rollers that are cooled with ammonia or freon, which flatten and cool the cheese to a desirable thickness and temperature. Once flattened and cooled, the cheese is sliced and put into modified atmosphere packaging.

Variations

Different steps must be taken for each type of cheese product. Some processed cheese products may require canning and sterilization, especially for products with a high water activity level. In order for a processed cheese product to be considered sterilized, it must be heated to 140 degrees Celsius for 10 seconds. Then, the product can be cooled, placed in cartons, and distributed or stored. On the other hand, other products might only require the direct placement of hot molten cheese into their final casing or package, which is immediately followed by cooling. These types of products are required to be packaged under anaerobic conditions in order to prevent the growth of mould.

Now that an overview for the processing of processed cheese has been established, a closer look at the types of additives that are added to processed cheese will be assessed. Firstly, emulsifying salts are added to the cheese blend to emulsify fat and stabilize the emulsion, control and stabilize the pH level, and assist the formation of an appropriate structure for the processed cheese product. As well, emulsifying salts solubilize calcium from fat micelles and break apart protein aggregates formed by casein. Some examples of emulsifying salts are sodium ions, phosphate ions, and sodium chloride (table salt). Secondly, miscellaneous additives are added to processed cheese such as bacteriocins and flavourings. Bacteriocins are formed mainly from lactic acid bacteria, and their purpose is to inhibit the growth of pathogens and other undesirable microorganisms. Flavourings are added because the micro floras which makeup the natural cheese’s characteristic flavour are essentially destroyed in the processing of cheese. Some plant or animal-based flavourings can be used, as well as chemical flavourings, such as 2,4-dithiapentane and trans-anethole, which give off a cheese flavour. Lastly, colouring can be added to enhance the appeal of the processed cheese product. The colourings used in processed cheese products are generally yellow-orange pigments that are sourced from beta carotenes.

Storage and shelf life

When packaging processed cheese, after other ingredients such as salt, fillers, emulsifiers, preservatives, and flavorings are added, the mixture is then heated under controlled conditions. The packaging process is done in anaerobic conditions leaving limited opportunities for the growth of molds. For sliced cheese (Kraft single slices), the cheese is spread by chilled steel rollers after heating and is cut by rotary knives into different thicknesses to suit different consumer choices. The cheese paste is put into long ribbons that are sliced while still warm. The small sheets of cheese are then put onto a plastic or foil sheet and wrapped by a machine.

The cheese is pressed by its own weight or by using pressure to the molds. Finally, the cheese is coated, wrapped or packed. Most kinds of cheese will ripen in the ripening room for deferent period.

The packaging is created to meet the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safe contact with the packaged product. The contractor obtains and maintains documentation from the container or packaging material manufacturer to confirm that the containers and packaging materials used in this contract were in agreement with the Government’s requirements.

One of the main reasons for having processed cheese is so that it can have an extended shelf life. This is why it is usually not refrigerated and can stay that way for a very long time. Natural cheese will never survive without refrigeration, which is what makes processed cheese so popular.)

Regulations

Legislation in Canada

Legislation of processed cheese in Canada is overseen by both provincial and federal governments. The quality, composition, and properties of processed cheese are overseen by the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations. As defined by the Food and Drug Regulations, processed cheese is “the product made by comminuting and mixing the named variety or varieties of cheese, other than cream cheese, cottage cheese, or whey cheese, into a homogenous mass with the aid of heat". . Processed cheese is heavily regulated; in the case of processed cheddar cheese, the Drug Regulations state that the product must be made by comminuting and mixing one or more of cheddar cheese, stirred curd cheese, granular curd cheese, or washed curd cheese.. Processed cheese must contain less than 40 percent moisture, although this amount may be exceeded by up to 5 percent. If the cheese is made from two or more varieties of cheese, the average moisture content of both cheeses must be under 40 percent, again with an exception of up to 5 percent. Processed skim milk cheese, a very popular variety of processed cheese, may contain up to 55 percent moisture, seven percent milk fat (with a 2 percent margin of error), and a variety of various additives, including water, milk fat, vinegar, as well as colouring, thickening, emulsifying, stabilizing, and gelling agents.

While the above specific regulations only apply to solid processed cheese, the Food and Drug Regulations also cover processed cheese food and processed cheese spreads extensively in their own sections. Processed cheese foods must contain at least 51% cheese, not more than 46% moisture, and not less than 22% fat. Processed cheese spread must contain 51% cheese, less than 60% moisture, and not less than 20% fat.

Sample of processed cheese regulations in Canada.

Labelling requirements

List of additional terms required to be shown on processed cheese labels.

Processed cheese manufacturers must meet a variety of labelling requires before being able to produce and distribute their product. These labelling requirements are outlined in the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations, and are enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The labels must be easily readable in both English and French, while containing the following information:

1. Common name, displayed on the primary display panel
2. Additional terms, listed on the primary display panel (see image)
3. Declaration of net quantity, displayed on primary display panel
4. Identify and principal place of business
5. Country of origin, on any surface but the bottom
6. Percent milk fat (the abbreviations "B.F." or "M.F." may be used)
7. List of ingredients
8. Moisture percentage
9. Shelf life and storage instructions
10. Nutrition labelling and serving size
11. Registration number and batch/lot code
12. Method of manufacturing

Some voluntary claims and statements may also be added, such as grade designation, nutrition claims, and using the term "100% Canadian milk" if true.

Nutrition

Nutrition label for Kraft Singles American processed cheese.

Processed cheese retains some of the nutritional value of natural cheese, as it is required to contain at least 51% cheese for it to bear the namesake. Processed cheese is a decent source of calcium and protein, although the numbers will vary from product to product. The amount of fat and calories in processed cheese will also fluctuate depending on the products used to form the cheese; therefore, it is hard to compare nutritional values between processed and natural cheese, as the nutritional contents for both types of cheeses can vary drastically.

Controversies and safety concerns

A major concern over processed cheese is the use of additives, especially preservatives, during the creation process. However, all additives are strictly controlled by the Canadian Food and Drug regulations, and are considered safe to eat. Furthermore, all types of processed cheese are required to contain a minimum of 51% real cheese; this ensures that the majority of the product is comprised of cheese. In moderation, processed cheese is safe to consume, and will not result in any major health issues.

Conclusion and Reflection

Cheese has long been a staple part of many civilizations' diets. Cheese is very versatile as it can be served in a variety of different methods, and provides many essential nutrients; these qualities will ensure that it will continually be a staple food for years to come. Processed cheese is a comparatively new method for making cheese; today, processed cheese is usually associated with "plastic" slices of cheese, such as Kraft Singles. A very popular stigma exists that processed cheese is not real cheese, and that it can cause detrimental health effects. However, after conducting extensive research on processed cheese, we now know the true story behind processed cheese. Processed cheese will always mostly contain real cheese, and all of its additives are safe to consume. Processed cheese has a long shelf life, enticing flavour, and is relatively inexpensive. While anyone who is concerned about its contents do not need to purchase or consume processed cheese, it will remain as a viable option for consumers who are looking for a cheap, tasty, and convenient cheese product to use on their sandwiches, burgers, or just as a snack.

Video Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlhxOb6u_Jo&feature=youtu.be

Exam Question

What is the correct sequence of manufacturing processed cheese?

A)Grind up natural cheese in a double ribbon blender > Mix additives, preservatives, and cheese in a grinder > Melt cheese mixture in batch cooker > Sort processed cheese into packaging/ cool the cheese

B)Grind up natural cheese in a grinder > Mix additives, preservatives, and cheese in a double ribbon blender > Melt cheese mixture in batch cooker > Sort processed cheese into packaging/ cool the cheese

C)Melt natural cheese, preservatives, and additives in a batch cooker > Sort processed cheese into packaging/ col the cheese

D)Grind up natural cheese in a double ribbon blender > Melt natural cheese, preservatives, and additives in a batch cooker > Sort processed cheese into packaging/ cool the cheese

E)Grind up natural cheese in a grinder > Melt natural cheese, preservatives, and additives in a batch cooker > Sort processed cheese into packaging/ cool the cheese