Those orange cheese slices in your fridge, may soon have some fun new company – studies are now being conducted to produce processed cheese slices in different colors and shapes. The research is being supported by Dairy Management Inc. and aims to produce a product that will appeal to children and other demographics, and will increase opportunities for use in healthy sandwiches, snacks and entrees.
Process cheeses in fun flavors have taken off in Europe and Japan. In Korea, a chocolate cheese is a big hit with the younger generation. Here in the United States, John Jaeggi, researcher with the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research at University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been working to incorporate berry and fruit flavors into process cheeses for kids.
The Wisconsin center also is developing ethnic process cheeses. A feta process cheese can be made into individually wrapped slices, ideal to top a burger or use in a Greek sandwich or wrap. Non-melting Hispanic cheeses such as queso fresco, queso blanco and queso para frier can be incorporated into a process Hispanic cheese that is pumpable and suitable as a filling in pastries or in applications where dough enrobes the cheese.
Another new development is a process mozzarella with improved bake characteristics. This product can also be used as a flavor carrier. The processed version has a window of optimum melt performance over six months, compared with two to four weeks for regular mozzarella. This cheese works well on pizza or frozen entrees. It can also be shredded and sold as part of a multiple cheese blend in combination with natural cheese.