Arla Foods Ingredients, an arm of Swedish-Danish cooperative Arla Foods, has introduced a new range of milk proteins that allows food producers in cutting down the salt content in processed cheese.
The company said that its new functional milk protein range makes it possible for processed cheese manufacturers to reduce salt content in spreadable, block and sliced processed cheese and cheese sauce by nearly 65%, while holding the same emulsification and sensory characteristics.
The range includes two proteins - Nutrilac CH-6540 for spreadable processed cheeses and cheese sauces, and Nutrilac CH-6608 for block and sliceable products.
Arla claims that the Nutrilac proteins, with their emulsification properties, can replace the emulsifying salts that are commonly used to attain a stable texture in spreadable, block, sliceable processed cheeses, and cheese sauce products.
The new functional milk proteins also remove the need for creaming, while reducing the processing times about an hour, and offer fat simulation properties, resulting in an end product that is not just lower in salt but also in fat.
Arla Foods Ingredients cheese application group manager Claus Andersen said that the company has applied its salt-reduction capability to specific processed cheese applications in line with growing awareness of salt consumption and demand for sodium reduction in processed foods.
"Apart from reducing salt, our solutions enable natural cheese content to be cut from 65% to somewhere between 20% and 40%. Dairy fat may be replaced with vegetable fat, and the high water-binding capacity allows a reduction in protein content," Andersen added.
An average daily consumption among adults in West is currently 8-12g, more than the recommended consumption level of 5g of salt a day.
More than two-thirds of the salt consumed is taken through processed foods, such as cheese, making it hard for consumers to reduce their intake, WHO said.
Arla Foods Ingredients specialises in the development and application of functional and nutritional ingredients derived from natural milk whey.
Image: The Nutrilac proteins, with their emulsification properties, can replace the emulsifying salts that are commonly used to attain a stable texture in spreadable, block, sliceable processed cheeses, and cheese sauce products. Photo: Steve Spring.
