It makes some people turn up their noses (“I would never eat that!). But deep down inside, all of us love spray cheese. The quintessential American delight (who else would think to shove chees int a can?), spray cheese just tastes good. Squirt it on chili, on a Trisquit, a hot dog, whatever. Courtesy of Wired Magazine, here’s everything that you would ever want to know about the stuff…
It’s perfect on a cracker. Almost too perfect. Explore the secrets of one of the world’s most unnatural foods.
• Whey: The cheese-making process removes 80 to 90 percent of milk’s moisture, some of which is in the form of liquidy whey proteins. This byproduct is usually thrown out, but Kraft plows it back into Easy Cheese to increase volume (filler!) – and passes the savings along to you.
• Canola oil: Keeps the cheese from solidifying.
• Salt: Increases the osmotic transport of moisture, speeding up the cheese-drying process. It also inhibits bacterial growth – in other words, it’s a preservative. Easy Cheese has twice the sodium of typical organic cheddar.
• Sodium citrate: The sodium in this compound exchanges ions with the calcium in the milk and “softens” the water-soluble portion of the cheese, enabling it to mix thoroughly with the fat-soluble component. That’s called emulsification. The citric acid-derived citrate boosts the sour “bite” of cheddar.
• Sodium phosphate: Degreaser, preservative, urine acidifier, enema ingredient – is there anything Na3PO4 can’t do? Here, it’s another emulsifying agent. Proponents of natural cheese cited this additive when lobbying to have Kraft’s products regulated as “embalmed cheese.” The Feds settled on the less-mortifying “process cheese.”
• Calcium phosphate: Sodium phosphate tends to make calcium unavailable to the body. So it’s possible that calcium phosphate has to be added to make Easy Cheese healthier. It also makes it legal for Kraft to label every can “an excellent source of calcium.”
• Lactic acid: Bacteria, either found naturally in milk or added in the cheese-making process, digest the milk sugar lactose and produce lactic acid. It tastes a little sour, because that’s how your taste buds interpret hydrogen ions, a key component of every acid.
• Sodium alginate: Every good processed food has seaweed extract, and Easy Cheese is no exception. Alginate, a gum found in the cell walls of brown algae, is flavorless but increases viscosity.
• Apocarotenal: This yellow-orange pigment, found in spinach and citrus fruits, enhances the color of processed cheese.
• The can: Easy Cheese is not a true aerosol – the food never comes in contact with propellant. The can has two sections: The bottom is filled with nitrogen gas, and the top with cheese. Press the nozzle and the nitrogen pressure pushes the cheese out of the can. The nozzle is notched for two reasons: To produce those pretty little floret patterns when the cheese is released, and to ensure that the tasty condiment comes out even if the end of the nozzle is pushed right up against the cracker.
