Lower Sodium Cheese, Naturally

By Douglas J. Peckenpaugh, Managing Editor

At any given moment in time in our ever-evolving food industry, various market drivers actively move business forward. These days, two key angles on product development continually rise to the forefront of R&Dsand consumerscollective consciousness: natural and low sodium.

Traditional routes to cutting sodium in foods have generally involved sodium replacers that help maintain a salty taste in the food. However, these replacers can contribute an unwanted off note to the product, of varying intensity depending on the formulation, which can require masking.

At this pointbefore even considering the vital point of product stability (salt, after all, is a functional ingredient from a food-safety standpoint)were adding two or more ingredients to the mix in the place of some or all of the sodium in a product. That sodium is often contributed primarily by salt, an inexpensive ingredient. Add in the need for increased preservative protection to the food, and ingredient costsand the ingredient statementcontinue to grow.

But the clarion call to cut sodium across the board in foods has inescapably sounded, setting R&D across the industry to task toward finding workable solutionsincluding all-natural" options that jibe with an increasing consumer demographic that reads labels, avoiding anything that sounds unfamiliar or chemically oriented." As noted in a Feb. 16, 2010 press release from the Natural Marketing Institute, Harleysville, PA, pure and simple" is projected to form the basis of a top trend in the coming decade, and this encompasses concomitant concepts like cleaner labeling" and less is more."

For a product like natural cheese, which already inhabits a realm friendly to such consumers, meddling with its pedigree can prove unsuitably counter-intuitive.

The challenge for cheese

Americans have an apparently insatiable appetite for cheese. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Madison, reports that annual per capita cheese consumption has increased from 19.9 lbs. in 1982 to 32.7 lbs. in 2007and that number is projected to grow to 37 lbs. by 2017.

Cheese is certainly not immune to the low-sodium challenge, but it poses a particular conundrum. Natural cheeses consist of a firm set of ingredients, and are protected by a range of standards of identity tied to specific types. And these criteria stipulate clear label identification of any added salt substitutes when it comes to low-sodium cheeses (see Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 133). For consumers aligned with the natural-food movement who have grown accustomed to scrutinizing product labels, such an ostensible callout may very well raise a red flag.

There are only four ingredients in cheese: milk, bacteria cultures, enzymes and saltand milk is 95% of it, so the other three ingredients are there in very small amounts," says John Brody, technology principal R&D, Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth, WI. But the role of salt in cheese is very important, because it does multiple things." In addition to its impact on flavor, he notes that it allows the cheese to become very microbially safe."

The R&D process initially involved testing batches of natural cheese with added sodium replacers, namely potassium chloride and ammonium chloride, and less salt. We made vats of cheese with those replacers in them at different levels, and we challenged them sensorily," says Brody. We came back, and we kept getting this negativity toward them. So then we moved into the area of sodium replacers followed by replacer masking agents. We had a host of different masking agents that would overlay something like an umami-type flavor on top of them." However, he notes, it wouldnt completely mask the off flavors; they were simply diminished. But what we found was that the more and more we did the sensory on it," he says, the more we felt people were getting sensitive to things like potassium chloride, which has a very metallic ting to it. So, ultimately, our sensory work said enough is enough. You could mask it all you like, but some people will still taste itand the more they eat of it, the more theyre going to taste it."

Processing the solution

In the end, the solution for the line of reduced-sodium natural cheesesincluding mild Cheddar, whole-milk mozzarella, Provolone, Colby Jack, and string cheesescame in the form of a multi-tiered (and patent-pending) approach that eschewed added replacers. Instead, they examined the entire cheese-make process to discover methods of cutting sodium along the way. Its not a single, one-fix type of deal," says Brody. There were multiple things involved. Our objective was to achieve a lower sodium level on our cheese. But at the same time, we knew as a development team that Sargento wouldnt go forward with it unless the cheese tasted good."

The team succeeded in cutting the sodium level in the cheeses by 25% without any addition of extra ingredients. We made changes in the cheese-make along the way so that it would fit what we needed," says Brody. What we needed to end up with was not only a reduced-sodium level, which is relatively easy to do if you just pull out the sodium, but you end up with a bland cheeseand what I would consider an unstable cheese. It wont have the required balance throughout its life as it ferments and moves forward and builds flavor. Youve got to end up with a cheese that is more robust and that keeps that balance throughout its shelf life."

It met the companys key criteria for flavor and reduced sodium contentall without any added ingredients. We completely tested it to make sure that the flavor that we developed stayed there and was to the forefront during the shelf life of the cheese," says Brody.