Inqredients in use: say it with cheese powder & flavoring

Prepared Foods, Feb, 2003 by Claudia D. O'Donnell

Three Cheese, Four Cheese, Five Cheese More

"Trend No. 10: Cheese Blends -- If one cheese is good, three or four must be better, right? A quick glance through the supermarket cheese case or your local pizzeria's menu proves that blends of three, four or even more cheeses are hot. What's behind the trend? You guessed it: flavor. Bolder, more interesting flavors are easily achieved by blending different varieties of cheese, and manufacturers have made it easy for us to tap the trend by providing a myriad of ready-to-use natural cheese blends." So reports the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's (WMMB) 2003 list of 12 cheese trends. And, indeed, the trend also can be seen in a broad range of new product categories.

Late last spring, Kraft Foods North America, Glenview, Ill., introduced a four-cheese snack cracker (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, romano) with "Real Kraft Cheese." The ingredient legend lists cheese and cheese powders in several places including "cheese powders (cheddar, parmesan, bleu, American and romano made from cultured milk, salt and enzymes)." Introduced initially in a box, a 2.5-oz. multi-laminated bag line extension was added in late fall.

Also around October of 2002, Nestle USA's Stouffer's Foods, Solon, Ohio, introduced a newer version of its Lean Cuisine Family Style Recipes Classic Five-Cheese Lasagna that serves up to 12 people. The 96-oz. carton retails for $9.95. An earlier single serving version is shown here. This version sports romano, parmesan, lowfat ricotta and mozzarella cheese, and reduced fat provolone on the ingredient list. Additionally, cheese flavors, including an enzyme modified parmesan cheese, increase the perception of cheese without adding significant amounts of fat.

This ability of full-fat cheese and cheese flavorings to be used in reduced-fat products can be seen in Luigino Inc.'s, Duluth, Minn., new Michelina's Shrimp & Vegetables Alfredo bowl with 8g fat per serving.

www.wisdairy.com/cheesetrends03 - WMMB

12 Cheese Trends list

www.kraftfoods.com

www.stouffers.com

Only One Sniff

Some 90% of Americans (presumably single) would turn away a potential date who didn't care for their pets, according to an American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) survey. Some 83% refer to themselves as their pet's mom or dad, 70% give gifts to their dog on holidays, 38% leave messages on the answering machine for their pets, and 19% choose restaurant meals that will have leftovers their pets will enjoy.

Chomp Inc., Lebanon, N.J., "inventors of pet candy," provides these factoids as sales support for a product they launched last fall...Sniffers Dog "Candy" with Real Beef and Cheese. Its brochure also notes that pet "candy" is the fastest growing pet product category. Sniffers is presented in a candy-like package; the semi-moist bites are based on wheat and soy flour, sweetened with corn syrup and possess a flavoring system that combines chicken fat, beef, cheese powder and natural and smoke flavors.

Although only 4% of cheese powder-containing new products in 2002 were in the pet category, dogs and cats ought be particularly objective judges of a product's taste. Cheese powder--along with casein--is the predominate flavor enticement in Gaines Pet Food's, Ontario, Denta Care Oral Care Bones, a hygiene snack to help control plaque and reduce tartar build-up, introduced in Canada last summer. The connection between cheese and a reduction of dental caries is, in fact, not farfetched. A plethora of research supports this association. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed, including the ability to increase salivation.

One last factoid from a Petsmart survey: 22% tune into the television shows their pets like to watch. (That may explain the popularity of some shows.)

www.chompinc.com--Champ Inc. website; will shortly post forms for the Chomp's national Worst Dog Breath Contest

www.nationaldairycouncil.org/lv104/nutrilib/digest/dairydigest_707c.h tm

www.nationaldoirycouncil.org/lv104/nulrilib/digest/dairydigest_735c.h tml--Two websites on research on cheese and reduced dental caries

"Xtreme" Flavored Snacks to Baby Food

No greater testimony can be given to the flavoring desirability of an ingredient than its use in the snack and, possibly, beverage categories. These two categories are populated by products primarily consumed for their sensory-satisfying nature rather than for basic sustenance (teens excluded).

Cheese has been included in the "xtreme" or bold flavor trend. Campbell Soup's Pepperidge Farm recently launched "Goldfish Snacks" in three new flavors on the Canadian market: Wild White Cheddar, Xplosive Pizza, and Xtra Cheddar Cheese. The company claims the product is "made with real cheese and offers an outrageous blast of flavor," reports Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD). Cheddar cheese appears first on the label, and is supported by additional cheese powder comprised of cheddar cheese, whey, buttermilk and disodium phosphate. A similarly formulated Flavor Blasted Goldfish on the U.S. market is shown here.