European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 20 the stars and stripes monday May 30, 1977 forget cheese smile and say analog by Rona Cherr new York time. The next time you Are offered a tray of Torso oeuvres with chunks of Cheddar and slivers of aromatic til Siter. Beware of showing your cheese expertise. For that Little til Siter. Genuine As i seems May be made out of cottonseed and the Small chunk of aged looking Cheddar May have been part of a Coconut. Over the years americans have become accustomed to Margarine imitation Mayonnaise and a Host of other synthetic products. But now there is a new culinary hurdle to face imitation cheeses. By using vegetable oils As a substitute for butterfat and often with the Aid of various chemicals cheese manufacturers have begun to produce cheese substitutes which they Call analogs because they look smell and Are roughly analogous to the real thing. Although cheese gourmets May Blanch the anal ogs Are expected to claim a sizable slice of the cheese Market within five years. Already companies such As Universal foods corp. Are marketing imitation american and Mozzarella to some stores and fast food chains across the country. Fisher cheese inc. Is marketing an imitation Mozzarella and Kraft inc. Is test marketing an imitation Colby and an imitation Cheddar. And the Dorman cheese co. Has been Selling an imported analog til Siter in some supermarket sin the new York area. Potentially Well be Able to make an imitation of every cheese now being sold said Robert f. Anderson executive director of the National cheese Institute. Some cheese lovers might find something sinister in commercial attempts to duplicate the glory of a Gouda or majesty of a Muenster. However cheese manufacturers enthusiastically Point out that while the analogs must be refrigerated the same Way As other cheeses they have a longer shelf life some imitation Mozzarella reportedly can last up to a year while a natural Mozzarella has a shelf life of about three months. Manufacturers also note that the analogs offer a Simi Lar amount of calories protein vitamins minerals and moisture contend found in real cheeses but with the added advantage of less cholesterol. The real reason behind the introduction of imitation cheese is not health Bat simple economic. The cast of oils made from cottonseed Corn Coconut or soy is much less than that of milk fat imitation cheeses Are therefore cheaper to produce and can be marketed at a lower Price. Universal foods for instance Sells its imitation Moz Zarella for about 40 per cent less than its natural counter part. And with the Price of regular cheese at far from bar gain Levels analog cheese manufacturers Hope their products will catch on much the same Way that Marga Rine which they Call imitation butter did. They Point out. For instance that from 1970 to 1975, the average retail Price of american cheese soared from 50.4cents to 76.8 cents for a half Pound package. By last no vember. American cheese was Selling for 87.4 cents As compared with m cents in the previous year. That s a fairly sizable increase said a department of agriculture economist. And it is leading people who buy cheese to at least take a look at the imitation however while Consumers will find that some analog cheeses an cheaper experts believe that eventually the analogs will Cost shoppers As much As real cheese. The companies will make the consumer pay for the fact that there is less cholesterol said Jack Miller Dairy manager at a Philadelphia pantry Pride super Market. You watch and you la see. " most of the cheese sold today is either natural or processed. Natural cheese is made by coagulating milk re moving the whey and preserving the curd. Processed cheese like much of the sliced american cheese sold is made by blending together different lots of cheese then melting them after adding chemical emulsifiers to give the cheese a uniform consistency. Analog cheese is made largely of vegetable Oil. It May also contain a Small amount of skim milk and sometime includes a variety of chemicals. Universal foods for in stance adds Calcium Casein ate which is a source of pro Tein sodium aluminium phosphate Alipic acid magnesium oxide artificial flavors and artificial colors. Last year about 7 per cent of the 3.3 billion pounds of cheese produced in the United states was analog and byi960 could reach As much As is per cent of the Market. Most will be sold to institutions rather than supermarkets but manufacturers optimistically predict that in the next few years retail stores All across the country will be featuring the new cheeses. While companies eventually intend to duplicate almost All cheeses including the More delicate kinds so tar they have been concentrating on the most pop ular varieties of american the principal kind of cheese consumed in the United state. Mozzarella the most popular italian cheese la also Popolar be cause the product is relatively easy to simulate and camouflage with other ingredients in pizza. Brie and Camembert will be More difficult to duplicate explained Neil Reay marketing manager for uni Versal foods. We re pretty much working with the More common commercial kinds of cheese imitation cheeses have been available for about five years but they began to become commercially Success Ful Only in late 1974 when the us a approved the use of no Dairy cheese in school lunch programs. In granting the approval the us a said the analogs could make up As much As so per cent of the cheese used in enchiladas pizza or other such dishes. The us a gave further encouragement when it emphasized that the new cheese products were As nutritionally sound As natural cheese. One reason that the analog cheese has not been Avail Able to the Public until recently is that Only within the past few years has vegetable Oil technology become sophisticated enough to produce cheese that can be sliced diced shredded and chunked like regular cheese. In recent months the Industry which is unhappy with the term imitation cheese has been searching for a name that can do for their product what Margarine did for Imi tation butter years ago. According to insiders at least for the moment the leading contender is Golan or analog spelled backwards. Tasting test for the ersatz by Mem Sheraton new York times hat does imitation cheese taste like compari sons that come most quickly to mind Are kneaded rubber erasers and crayons. But food terminology would More aptly apply so let us try. The most Sla tingly dreadful was imitation Mozzarella by Universal foods corp. Of Madison wis. At the first bite. 1 Felt my Throat close in a protective reflex f should have respected. Much denser and More solid than the True gently squeezable ital Ian original the flavor of this imposter is metallic Saline and medicinal it was a flavor that Only a me Alful of Chili fire thai food could eradicate. By comparison Dorman s Cho free was Messing with the decided virtue of having of taste at All. It smelled generally Chessey much like whey in fact and looked like a Muenster or a pressed curd Cheddar. As for the Quality food technologists describe As Mouth feel How convincing a synthetic food feels in the Mouth this mock cheese rated Low due to its crumbling sort of wet paper Tex Ture. If one wanted to be generous it could be compared to very dry pot cheese. Kraft s imitation cheeses Are imitations All of the color that might Best be de scribed As Kraft Orange. Imitation Colby was about As close to being tasteless As any food product can be. Its mild imitation Cheddar cheese tasted like very bad processed american cheese. The imitation Cheddar spread suggested processed american blended with commercial Mayonnaise. Parents. When you Call your Chil Dren to go visit your friends with you do they hide under the car and refuse to come out do they make excuses for not going like they have to stay Home and rotate the tires on their tricycle do they exude All the enthusiasm of a child invited to a fire Drill in december in the Middle of show ers then these words Are for you. Sup pose just suppose the situation was reversed and you were being dragged along to visit their friends. In might go something like this. Look mom would you and dad Stop dawdling or we re doing to be late at Debbie and Mike s Bouse. And i m telling you before we go i Don t wan you whining around about when Are by Ermo Jombock at wits end we coming Home and running in and out Ever two minutes to Tell and for crying out loud Lake something to do some of your favorite toys. Mom Why Don t you Lake your needlepoint that would keep you occupied for awhile. Your bom workshop is out of the question. Dad. It s too big. Take something Small like maybe your keyring to play at the House the introductions Are Brief. This is mom and dad but you la forget their names anyway. Say hello. And would you look at your parents. I swear they Vegron a foot since we last saw them. How Are things at work and where did you get thai pretty dress i want you to meet my parents. Mom is 34 and dad is 36. You should have a lot in common. Now run along and get acquainted. Maybe their mom will show you her new microwave oven and their dad his new Power Mower. Keep it Down later As the children Are really having a Good time the four parents approach the children. Kids when Are we going Home All the parents Are sleepy. Besides. Dad has to be in court Early tomorrow and he has a Brief to write the kids look at one another in t that just like a Parent putting every thing off until sunday night. How Long have you known about the Brief last Friday says their father. A Likely Story. Don t they drive you crazy. I swear you can t take parents any where and have a Good time. What say we t it sometime soon without a in the car on the Way Home you hear the kids say i love Debbie and Mike but their parents Are really spoiled brats i Hope you two did t drink a Tot of liquids or you la be up All night. And Don t Yiu dare Tway Home of a � leave leave you in the car All night. Tell me did you have a Good time
