Kraft cheese process

Phosphates are mostly added to processed cheese (e.g. Kraft cheese, patented in 1916 [27]), which are usually blends of low-cost cheeses with small quantities of more expensive cheeses. Disodium phosphate, Na2HP04, for example, when incorporated into processed cheese, makes it soft, pliable and easier to spread. It acts as an emulsifier and promotes a more even distribution of the fat components. 

The first soft processed cheese was patented in 1899. In 1916, Kraft was issued a patent for heating natural Cheddar cheese and emulsifying it with alkaline salts, which was the beginning of the processed cheese industry in the United States (Kosikowski 1978A). 

Processed cheese was invented in 1916 by J. L. Kraft, a cheese merchant who was plagued with complaints that his product was not of a consistent quality. Kraft hatched a scheme he would mix a variety of cheeses and blend them with water to produce a uniform product. But to ensure that his product had a smooth consistency, he d have to devise a method of preventing the fat and the water from separating. Sodium monohydrogen phosphate, Kraft discovered, was an ideal emulsifier. Today, processed cheese makers use essentially the same procedure. 

Incidentally, Kraft s familiar yellow slices are yellow for the simple reason that consumers think they should be the cheese is dyed with carotenoids extracted from a variety of plants. Nutritionally, processed cheese is roughly equivalent to regular Cheddar cheese. 

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