Chr. Hansen Launches New Ripening Culture for Reduced-Fat Cheese

22 Dec 2015 --- Today’s consumers lead high-paced lives with little time for exercise, which prompts the demand for low fat alternatives in their daily diet – including parents looking for healthy snacks foods for their children. This is also seen in the cheese market, where lower fat cheese is becoming a factor in demand. 

However, eating cheese with less calories can be a disappointing experience. A flavorless sensation of rubber in one’s mouth has often been the result when natural fats are reduced, leading to moderate commercial success for cheese producers that wanted to pursue the opportunities within reduced-fat cheese. 

Indeed making reduced-fat cheeses of premium quality can be a challenge, but now a new ripening culture from Chr. Hansen hits the market, specially designed to keep the character and bring out a clean taste and a rounder flavor in reduced fat cheese. The new F-DVS Delight culture, is claimed to help producers of lower fat cheese to go from light to delightful, ensuring consumers a creamy feel and a pleasant solubility in their mouths.

“We believe Delight can be a game changer in reduced-fat cheese. In fact the culture allows cheesemakers to produce reduced-fat cheeses with a taste and texture that no experts thought possible and that is why we believe we have created a true novelty in the cheese landscape. It is targeted at producers who wish to meet the increasing demand for healthier, yet indulgent cheeses,” concludes Anne-Claire Bauquis, Global Marketing Manager, Chr. Hansen. 

Delight is the name of a Lactobacillus helveticus culture that brings unique benefits to reduced-fat Cheddar and continental cheeses. 

Contrary to many ripening cultures, Delight does not have a side effect on curd acidification, which opens the door to new areas: Mold soft cheese, blue cheeses, cheeses with high residual sugars or high water content can all be inoculated with Delight without risk of post-acidification.