Processed cheese

Processed cheese is made by heating and blending natural cheese with emulsifying salts, producing a smooth product with a stable texture. It may also contain water, milk ingredients, flavorings, or other additions.

Emulsifying salts: Food additives that bind calcium in cheese and help disperse casein, stabilizing fat and water in an emulsion. They help prevent fat separation and create processed cheese’s smooth texture.
Natural cheese: Cheese produced by coagulating milk and processing the resulting curds, rather than by blending finished cheese with emulsifying salts. It supplies the cheese solids and characteristic flavors blended into processed cheese.
American cheese: A mild, smooth cheese product commonly made by blending cheeses with emulsifying salts; it may be processed cheese or a related cheese food. It is a familiar processed-cheese style, especially in slices and sandwiches.
Pasteurized process cheese: A standardized cheese product made by heating and blending cheese with emulsifying ingredients under specified compositional rules. It is a regulated product category closely matching the defining method of processed cheese.
Casein: The major family of proteins in milk, forming particles that carry minerals and help stabilize dairy emulsions. Emulsifying salts alter casein’s mineral balance so it can stabilize melted cheese.
Cheese curd: The solid portion of coagulated milk, separated from whey during cheese making. Curd becomes the foundational material from which natural cheese is made.
Cheese spread: A soft, spreadable cheese product formulated to be applied to bread or crackers. Processed cheese formulations can be adjusted for a soft, spreadable consistency.
Pasteurized process cheese food: A regulated cheese product containing cheese and additional dairy ingredients, with composition requirements distinct from process cheese. Its added dairy ingredients distinguish it from some narrower processed-cheese standards.
Calcium sequestration: The binding of calcium ions by molecules that reduce their availability to other substances. Sequestering calcium helps loosen casein structures during processed cheese manufacture.
Whey: The liquid remaining after milk has coagulated and the curds have been separated. Whey or whey-derived ingredients may be added to some processed cheese formulations.

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