Moisture, cheese packaging

A food system can experience rather large fluctuations in temperature during its lifetime, depending on a variety of factors, such as the location and time of year the product is manufactured and the conditions of distribution, storage, and display. For example, if a food product, such as an intermediate moisture cheese, is manufactured and packaged with an aw] equal to 0.66 at... 

Any material used for packaging natural cheeses must prevent moisture loss, maintain good product appearance, protect against microorganisms, and act as an oxygen barrier. Aluminum foil laminates provide this type of protection for cheese. Cream cheese is packed in lami-... 

There are some foods where the equilibrium relative humidity is above that of the external climatic conditions. The packaging material then serves the purpose of protecting the product from moisture loss. This is the case with processed cheese and baked goods. 

The cheese from each mini-vat provided 7 to 8 lbs of sample, and after pressing each lot was split before barrier-packaging under vacuum so that two ripening temperature regimes could be evaluated (i.e., continuous 10°C, and 21°C for 21 days followed by continuous 10°C, through 4 months). The Cheddar cheeses were typical in average moisture (37.5%), salt (1.7%), fat (31.5%), and pH (5.10) levels even though they were manufactured on a miniature scale compared to commercial-scale batch operations. 

EVOH films provide an excellent oxygen barrier in dry applications, but do not provide a good moisture barrier. In addition, the oxygen barrier diminishes at elevated relative humidity levels. Co-extruded biaxiaUy oriented films containing EVOH have use in processed meat, cheese, and some dry food packaging applications. 

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