Cheese alternatives are products used as culinary replacements for cheese. They are usually products made by blending other fats or proteins and used in . The category includes as well as some dairy-containing products that do not qualify as traditional cheeses, such as processed cheese. These foods may be intended as replacements for cheese, as with vegan products, or as alternatives, as in the case of products used for salad bars and pizza-making, that may have other properties such as lower cholesterol content or different melting points that make them attractive to businesses.
These products are sometimes referred to as "analogue pizza cheese". They are used on some Mass production pizzas. They may be formulated for processing with basic Cheesemaker equipment, but without the additional equipment and processing that mozzarella cheese requires, such as the processes of mixing and molding. They tend to have a soft texture and once melted, may have a slightly "stringy" quality when pulled or bitten into. They may lack in a fusion, or melt together when cooked. It has been stated that pizza cheese appears to be the leading type of cheese analogue produced globally. In 1987 it was asserted that—at that time—each year in the United States over 700 million frozen pizzas were sold, three quarters of which contain cheese substitutes.
|
|