• SCB@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What’s odd is it is literally cheese though. It’s called cheese product because it is a spread, not whole cheese, and has been processed to not require refrigeration long term.

    I did not know this until I googled it, so figured I’d share.

    • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So it’s not cheese. It’s cheese product. Just like mayo is not eggs, but it’s egg product. Not the same.

    • barsoap
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      1 year ago

      Some quick googling makes be believe there’s usually about 30% cheese in there which, according to our labelling rules, means that it’s not even a cheese product, much less cheese. Otherwise we’d be calling some frozen pizzas cheese products.

      The lowest percentage you can go and still have cheese in the description is melt cheese preparations which are a minimum of 50% cheese, melting salts (duh) the the rest is other milk products (usually cream), then maybe some spices and herbs.

      Spray cheese ingredient lists, OTOH, right-out start with “water” in the beginning. More or less sauce mornay for people without palate or dignity (there’s no water in mornay but plenty of milk).

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m in a hurry, so wikipedia, but

        As of 2016, Kraft describes Cheez Whiz as a “cheese dip” with the word cheese spelled correctly. According to a Kraft spokesman, the product does include cheese, but the company has chosen to list its parts—such as cheese culture and milk—instead of cheese as a component itself

        • barsoap
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          1 year ago

          Cheez Whiz doesn’t seem to come in spray bottles, the Kraft spray stuff seems to be Cheese Zip.

          Going by the amazon listing Cheese Zip’s German ingredient list is

          Wasser, 33% Cheddarkäse und Pflanzenöl, Sojaöl, modifizierte Maisstärke, Schmelzsalze (Natriumphosphate, Polyphosphate), Salz, Säureregulator Milchsäure, Aroma (enthält Milch), Stabilisator Natriumalginat, Konservierungsstoff Sorbinsäure, Verdickungsmittel Xanthan, Farbstoff Paprikaextrakt.

          Water, 33% Cheddar cheese and vegetable oil, soy oil, modified maize starch, melting salts (sodium phosphates, polyphosphates), salt, acid regulator lactic acid, aroma (contains milk), stabiliser sodium alginate, preservative sorbic acid, thinkener xanthan, colouring paprika exctract


          I was a bit mistaken before: It’s not 50% cheese as such but 50% of dry weight must be cheese, and at least 20% of the product must be dry weight. But they’re not calling it Schmelzkäsezubereitung so chances are it isn’t. Also WTF is “cheddar cheese and vegetable oil” supposed to mean as a combined percentage. I’m kinda surprised it’s even legal but they’re definitely telling on themselves, there.

          This stuff is a melt cheese preparation, essentially our version of Cheez Whiz I think:

          Sahne (40%), Käse (31%), Butter, Molkenpulver, Schmelzsalze (E339, E451), Speisesalz

          cream (40%), cheese (31%), butter, whey powder, melting salts (sodium phosphate, triphosphates), table salt

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I believe we have very different ideas of what “long term” means, but cheese eventually gets moldy under normal conditions.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It’s more to do with the canning and extrusion process than in changes to the underlying product.

            The processing is about how they achieve the necessary consistency. You can read comments in this thread about how to get this type of behavior (in general terms) from cheese using ingredients you (probably) have at home.

    • DacoTaco@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Nah, afaik actual cheese ( fermented milk ) isnt legal in the usa, right? Reason why things like cheddar and this thing is so popular afaik