US 12,108,770 B2
Processed cheese with cultured dairy components and method of manufacturing
Zuoxing Zheng, Buffalo Grove, IL (US); Ammar N. Chinwalla, Gurnee, IL (US); Christine D. Marcus-Johnson, Chicago, IL (US); and Divya Shree Reddy, Lake Zurich, IL (US)
Assigned to Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by KRAFT FOODS GROUP BRANDS LLC, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Aug. 10, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/884,896.
Application 16/536,494 is a division of application No. 13/973,660, filed on Aug. 22, 2013, granted, now 10,375,972, issued on Aug. 13, 2019.
Application 17/884,896 is a continuation of application No. 16/536,494, filed on Aug. 9, 2019, granted, now 11,464,238.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/692,129, filed on Aug. 22, 2012.
Prior Publication US 2023/0044136 A1, Feb. 9, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A23C 19/032 (2006.01); A23C 19/082 (2006.01); A23C 19/11 (2006.01)
CPC A23C 19/0323 (2013.01) [A23C 19/082 (2013.01); A23C 19/11 (2013.01); A23C 2220/206 (2013.01); A23V 2400/231 (2023.08)] 15 Claims
 
1. A processed cheese including natural antimicrobials, the processed cheese comprising:
about 10 to about 90 percent natural cheese or a mixture of natural cheeses;
one or more emulsifiers;
about 8 to about 25 percent protein;
about 10 to about 30 percent fat;
about 40 to about 60 percent moisture;
an amount of nisin, effective to prevent toxin formation from C. botulinum determined by toxin bioassay with mice, in the processed cheese at the protein and the fat levels thereof for about 9 days at 86° F.; and
an amount of exopolysaccharide,
wherein the nisin and exopolysaccharide are included in the processed cheese in the form of a cultured dairy component,
the nisin and the exopolysaccharide in the cultured dairy component are obtained from a fermentation of a single lactic acid producing Lactococcus lactis strain in a 2× to a 5× concentrated liquid dairy medium,
the cultured dairy component is effective to achieve a nisin activity ratio of about 0.3 percent or less in the processed cheese, and
the cultured dairy component is effective to increase the melt and firmness of the processed cheese relative to a processed cheese without the cultured dairy component.