Olympics for the cheese world

Chr. Hansen strengthens scientific relations at the IDF Cheese Ripening & Technology Symposium.

Every four years the Cheese Ripening & Technology Symposium held by the International Dairy Federation gathers more than 300 key people from academia and the industry worldwide.

It is the largest event of its kind and this year the 3 day conference was held in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, for the first time.

Chr. Hansen, who was a sponsor at the Platinum Level, participated with two posters at the poster session focusing on "Screening of Lipolytic, Esterolytic and Aspartase Activity in Propionibacteria" and "Flavor Library for NSLAB" (Non-starter lactic acid bacteria, a common component of the microflora of many cheeses and nearly all hard ripened varieties).

Understanding how salt affects the quality of cheese
Furthermore, Chr. Hansen had the honor of presenting some of its cutting edge innovation expertise at this high level event. Kirsten Kastberg Møller, Development Scientist, Culture Development, made a presentation on "Improving the quality of low-salt Cheddar cheese by the combined use of lactic acid bacteria and coagulant enzymes".

“My research is targeted at investigating and understanding the mechanisms though which salt affects the quality of cheese,” the scientist explains.

“It is only through understanding these mechanisms that it is possible to find new innovative solutions to the technical challenges and develop the best DVS^® cultures and enzymes for producing a high quality low-salt cheese, which is a major trend in the industry right now.”

Health concern leads to new study
High salt intake in the diet is associated with hypertension and other health issues. Up to 70% of the consumers’ salt intake originate from bread, meat, prepared food and cheese, which is widely consumed. According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., global cheese consumption is to reach 21 million tons by 2015.

Chr. Hansen is committed to finding ways to reduce the amount of salt in cheese and has just entered a new joint study together with Denmark’s two largest universities, two major Danish dairy companies and Norwich Research Park, a community of world leading research organizations. The study aims at developing technical solutions to reduce the salt content in different cheese types without compromising on the sensory quality.

“The focus is not on adding a new type of ingredients, on the contrary we’re looking to expand the functionality of other naturally occurring components,” concludes Kirsten Kastberg Møller.