Enzyme-modified cheese (EMC) is a concentrated cheese flavour ingredient that is produced from

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During product ...

(or its upstream ingredients) by treatment with

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

s such as

protease A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the form ...

s (not including the usual

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin and ...

lipase Lipase ( ) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; however, these are usually tr ...

s and

esterase An esterase is a hydrolase enzyme that splits esters into an acid and an alcohol in a chemical reaction with water called hydrolysis. A wide range of different esterases exist that differ in their substrate specificity, their protein structure ...

s. These enzymes accelerate and intensify the ripening of cheese, which is normally done with enzymes released by an microbial culture. They may be added to during cheesemaking, after the

cheese curd Cheese curds are moist pieces of curdled milk, eaten either alone or as a snack, or used in prepared dishes. They are consumed throughout the northern United States and Canada. Notably, cheese curds are popular in Quebec, as part of the dish ...

s have been pressed, or even after the cheese has been naturally aged. EMCs were first made in the 1970s.

Uses

EMCs are used in powder or paste forms. They are generlly added to foods at dosages of around 0.1-2% (up to 5%) to provide a cheesy flavour. They are usually 10-30 times as intense in flavour as natural cheeses, but have a different (much exaggerated) taste profile from the parent cheese. EMCs are used in

processed cheese Processed cheese (also known as process cheese, cheese food, prepared cheese, cheese product, or plastic cheese) is a food product made from cheese and unfermented dairy ingredients mixed with emulsifiers. Additional ingredients, such as vegeta ...

, cheese powders,

cheese spread Cheese spread is a soft spreadable cheese or processed cheese product. Various additional ingredients are sometimes used, such as multiple cheeses, fruits, vegetables and meats, and many types of cheese spreads exist. Pasteurized process cheese ...

s, and salad dressings. EMC in dry powder form typically have a longer shelf-life than paste EMC. They can also be used in more applications and are thus more popular as of 2021.

Flavors

A number of EMC flavors are available via manipulation of the parent cheese, enzyme mixtures, or aging times. By 1986, flavors include mild, medium, and sharp

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and ...

, as well as Colby,

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

Provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian cheese. It is an aged '' pasta filata'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in Campania near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in ot ...

, Romano,

Mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the ani ...

Parmesan Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' i ...

, and Brick. These flavors are developed by analyzing the flavoring compounds, such as amino acids and fatty acids, of the target cheese. Flavors have become even more diverse by the 2020s. The flavor of an EMC depends on the curds and the enzyme composition. A cheddar-type EMC derives most of its lactate and acetate from the natural cheddar curd it is based on. Varying the amount of proteases and lipases tune the amount of background notes (amino acids, peptides) relative to sharp fatty acid flavors. Swiss cheese additionally require propionates, which comes from glycolysis.

Production

EMCs are produced by thorough mixing of the source ingredients with enzymes and/or cultures, an incubation period to have the enzyme work, and finalized by terminating enzyme action (usually with heat). Most EMCs take 1–7 days to make. Most EMCs are made in a one-stream process starting from a hard or semi-hard type cheese curd. Others may separately age the fat and the curd for better tuning of the proteolysis-to-lipolysis flavor ratio. Few EMC makes use of a starter culture, but Blue cheese flavor is an important exception. Produced mostly from cream instead of curds, the aging fungus ''

Penicillium roqueforti ''Penicillium roqueforti'' is a common saprotrophic fungus in the genus ''Penicillium''. Widespread in nature, it can be isolated from soil, decaying organic matter, and plants. The major industrial use of this fungus is the production of blue ...

'' is given as much fat as possible to convert into the desired ketone flavor in just 48 hours.

Food standards

In the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, EMC is considered a flavouring preparation when used without other flavourings. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, EMCs have Generally recognized as safe status. The US standards of identity for cheese allows "enzymes used in curing or flavor development" for a number of styles of cheeses in addition to the usual "clotting enzymes" (rennet).{{cite web , title=CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Part 133 , url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=133&showFR=1 , website=www.accessdata.fda.gov

References

Cheese Food technology