Chr. Hansen takes its probiotics into cheese

In Norway, dairy Synnove Finden recently launched a low-fat Continental type cheese fortified with Chr. Hansen’s probiotic strain BB12. The product is a sliced 10% fat cheese.

17/09/08 Within dairy Chr. Hansen has supplied probiotics for yoghurt and other fermented milk products for years. Now the Danish company is ready to serve cheese manufacturers who want to fortify their cheese with probiotic cultures. Chr. Hansen has incorporated cheese as a vehicle for well-reputed probiotic cultures like BB12, LA5 and L.Casei 431.

Chr. Hansen’s probiotic cultures are suitable for cottage cheese, Continental cheese types and cheddar cheese types. These “ordinary” cheeses make very good carriers of probiotic cultures due to favorable conditions for probiotic bacteria. Various other types are not suitable for addition of probiotic cultures due to a high processing temperature or a long maturation time.

Cottage cheese which is widely consumed in North America and Eastern Europe makes up 5% of the world’s 14.5m ton cheese production. A very popular cheese type in Europe and South America Continental cheese makes up 25% of global cheese production. Cheddar which is largely consumed in North America and Asia-Pacific makes up 20% global cheese production.

“Chr. Hansen’s move into probiotic cheese is only natural,” says Nanna Borne, Marketing Manager, Cheese Cultures, Chr. Hansen. “Dairies and ingredients suppliers first spotted yoghurts as a suitable application for probiotics but cheese is another promising category. We have experienced an increasing international demand within this area in recent months,” says Nanna Borne.

According to Sarita Bairoliya, Global Marketing Manager, Probiotics, Chr. Hansen, a number of factors characterize a successful probiotic food application:

• Technologically the right food vehicle
• Food vehicle intrinsically perceived as healthy
• The health claim must make sense for the consumers
• The product is backed by a credible marketer
• Convenience, wellness and good taste

In Norway, dairy Synnove Finden recently launched a low-fat Continental type cheese fortified with Chr. Hansen’s probiotic strain BB12. The sliced 10% fat cheese — “Så Lett Gulost” (So Light Yellow Cheese) — is part of a cheese family which includes a straight 10% fat cheese and a 27% fat cheese fortified with vitamin D. “Just as the vitamin D variety which is selling really well we expect the probiotic cheese to appeal to health-conscious Norwegians with an active lifestyle,” says Morten Munthe Horn, Marketing Manager, Synnove Finden.

Probiotics are beneficial bacterial cultures that, when consumed in adequate amounts, can reward your body with health benefits such as improving digestive health, promoting regularity and enhancing your immune system.