By Science News Staff

Web edition: June 15, 2012
Print edition: June 30, 2012; Vol.181 #13 (p. 4)

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JUST ADD WATER AND STIR TO USE INSTANT CHEESES — Instant cheddar and blue cheeses (add water and stir) will soon be on the grocer’s shelf, adding to the growing list of compressed and condensed foods turned out by science.… For use in cheese sauces or sprinkled on pizzas, casseroles and other dishes needing the cheese touch, these two cheeses will soon be on the market, the American Dairy Science Association meeting at the University of Maryland, College Park, was told. The powdered cheese is made similarly to other dry milk products. Water is blended with plain cheese to make a liquid slurry, which is then homogenized. A heating process removes all water, leaving a uniform cheese powder, which can be reconstituted by the housewife.