Salt (sodium chloride) fulfils a wide range of functions within any food matrix, and being a relatively cheap ingredient isn’t one that manufacturers actively seek to reduce with anything that might increase cost.
In cheese applications in particular, sodium chloride performs critical functions, including microbial regulation and taste improvement. Plus, it has the ability to induce whey leeching from the curd and to slow starter culture activity. These valuable functions, coupled with a regulatory environment that requires cheese to be identified as processed cheese or similar if it relies on non-dairy additives, has made the reduction of salt in cheese an especially challenging target.
However, moves continue throughout the industry to help reduce the intake of salt by consumers because of its contribution to hypertension and increased risk of cardiac events, and significant work is going on to help provide solutions to the challenge in cheese products.
Potassium chloride, a commonly used salt replacer, can be incorporated into cheeses with some restrictions: it isn’t allowed in mozzarella or in unflavoured, live ripened cheese.
“Within the legislation, there is room for interpretation,” said Walter Blom. “When cheese is used as an ingredient for another foodstuff (for example, a pizza), then it can contain potassium chloride. Similarly, when salt is used for producing the cheese, the salt can be seen as being used for flavouring, and this opens the way for salts such as potassium chloride to be incorporated instead.”
However, potassium chloride hasn’t typically been a good solution in cheese products because of its bitter/metallic taste and reduced cheese sensory attributes. Nu-Tek’s Advanced Formula potassium chloride solution, which is based on a novel technology, overcomes these difficulties. Nu-Tek has already conducted several successful studies into the performance of Nu-Tek Potassium Chloride in cheese products.
In a study using Nu-Tek Potassium Chloride in Cheddar cheese at the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin in the US, evaluators found no significant differences in salty perception and flavour between the control cheese and cheese containing Nu-Tek Potassium Chloride. Similar results were seen with respect to texture, moisture and shelf life.
According to Nu-Tek, its potassium chloride solution has been shown to have excellent functionality in cheese as well as processed cheese, and these benefits include the critical areas of moisture, texture, water activity and minimising bacterial growth.
“We have perfected a patented technology that reduces the bitter notes associated with potassium chloride,” said Dustin Grossbier, of the concept that began life six years ago and was first commercialised three years ago. “Nu-Tek potassium chloride has smaller particles size so has a greater salt flavour impact. It is also lower in cost than other flavour-based systems (ie yeast extracts, bitter blockers), which also may encounter problems associated with being labelled as an allergen. The tests we have conducted in the US highlight how the Nu-Tek solution offers the same water activity as salt, so there is no impact on the safety of the end product. We are now conducting tests on Gouda. Nu-Tek potassium chloride also provides a salt replacing solution in quarks and spreadable cheese.”
Through its research, Nu-Tek has demonstrated that in cheeses, it’s possible to achieve a 30-50% reduction in the actual salt content without significant impact on the flavour or cost of the end product. In addition, manufacturers may benefit from the inclusion of potassium and the mineral’s beneficial role in regulating heart function, blood pressure and the nervous system.
“There is the added potential for manufacturers to make a potassium claim, and no changes are needed in manufacturing – just take out salt and add Nu-Tek,” said Grossbier, who explained that Nu-Tek avoids the need for additional SKUs to be held in the warehouse no matter how many different products it’s used in. “Unlike other flavour systems, Nu-Tek Potassium Chloride is not application-specific. For traditional potassium chloride products, masking agents or flavour systems might be needed and these can mask a product’s entire flavour system, so manufacturers would need to add more spices, which are expensive. Nu-Tek’s solution avoids this.”
The Nu-Tek solution is already in industrial tests at several cheese manufacturers in the UK.
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