Analogue cheeses and cheese products without fresh milk Legislation and interests

Many changes in eating habits have been observed in recent years. We have seen a reduction in the amount of time spent preparing meals, and at the same time a sharp increase in the consumption of ready-made meals (quiches, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, etc.). Cheese products are frequently found in these ready-made meals.

Cheese consumed in this way becomes an ingredient in a culinary preparation. This mode of consumption differs from traditional cheese consumption, which in France tends to take place at the end of a meal and on a platter. Although platter use still accounts for half of all cheese consumption, the trend is towards the development of ingredient cheeses, which must possess a precise set of functional properties. These properties include, for example, those observed after the product has been baked (hot functional properties), such as the cheese's ability to melt and spread on a dish, or its ability to form threads.

Cheese melting technologies are particularly interesting in this context, as they enable the production of products with multiple functional and usage properties, which can be adapted to these new consumption patterns. The applications for these products are very varied: grated cheese on pizzas or gratins, cubed cheese in salads, but also cheese sauces, sliced cheese eaten hot or cold in sandwiches, cheese mixed into sauces or soups, or incorporated into cold meats.

Cheese analogues (or Cheese Analogues, CA) first appeared in the USA in the 1970s. The aim was to create inexpensive cheese substitutes for the food industry and cafeteria-style catering. However, cheese analogues, which do not benefit from the cheese designation in regulatory terms, are still products with a poor image. Yet these are specific products that meet different needs and objectives from those of traditional cheeses. They are unique in that they require neither cheese (unlike processed cheeses) nor fresh milk as a raw material. This is particularly interesting in countries where milk production is undeveloped, or at highly variable quality levels. Importing raw materials then becomes the only way to manufacture cheese products.

The aim of this article is not to stop at the case of cheese analogues, but to cover the whole range of products that can be made without recourse to fresh milk. In this context, two processing routes stand out: the production of recombined (or reconstituted) milk, from different sources of milk powders and fats (dairy or non-dairy), and the production of cheeses without whey separation.

Such products are still relatively rare on the market, as they have not yet reached levels of quality comparable to those of traditional cheeses. This is particularly true in countries...