Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Of milk or milk product
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-14
2002-07-09
Wong, Leslie (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Of milk or milk product
C426S034000, C426S580000, C426S582000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06416797
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the production of cream cheese. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for producing a wheyless cream cheese using transglutaminase.
BACKGROUND
Cheese compositions are generally prepared from dairy liquids by processes that include treating the liquid with a coagulating or clotting agent. The coagulating agent may be a curding enzyme, an acid, or a suitable bacterial culture. The coagulum or curd that results generally incorporates transformed casein, fats (including natural butter fat), and flavorings (especially those arising when bacterial cultures are used). The curd is usually separated from the whey and is then collected. The resulting liquid whey generally contains substantial portions of nutrients, including soluble proteins, mineral salts, and lactose, that are normally lost in the manufacturing process. The inability of whey nutrients to be retained in the coagulum is an important factor contributing to a lack of efficiency in production of cheese curds, and to a reduction in overall yield of protein solids from the starting dairy liquids. Therefore, there remains a need for more effective methods of improving the efficiency of nutrient incorporation during cheese production.
Cream cheese is a mild, acid-coagulated uncured cheese made of dairy components including a fat source (e.g., a mixture of cream and milk). Cream cheese is normally stored under refrigeration conditions (i.e., about 2 to about 8° C.) and typically has a smooth and butterlike body. At refrigeration temperatures, cream cheese can normally be sliced, but it is not soft or readily spreadable and cannot readily be applied to a soft or brittle substrate.
Attempts have been made to develop a process for making wheyless cream cheese in which nutrients traditionally lost in the whey are retained in the cheese product. However, cheese or cheese-like products produced by such processes typically do not have the body, texture, and/or taste desired in cream cheese. Therefore, there remains a need to develop processes for making cream cheese in which the cheese has body, texture, and taste similar to that found in cream cheese prepared by conventional processes (i.e., curds and whey processes).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,704 discloses a process for the production of cream cheese-like products in which whey is not removed during the process. The methods disclosed do not include the use of transglutaminase to improve the texture and body of the wheyless cheese produced. Furthermore, the method disclosed uses an emulsifier which adds cost to the process. Moreover, under the current United States Standards of Identity, a product containing such emulsifiers cannot be labeled as cream cheese.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,152 discloses a process for the production of cream cheese-like products in which whey is not removed during the process. The methods disclosed in this patent do not include the use of transglutaminase to improve the texture and body of the wheyless cheese produced. Furthermore, the methods disclosed uses stabilizers which increases the cost of processing using the disclosed method. Moreover, in some countries, a product containing stabilizers cannot be labeled as cream cheese; in the United States, the Standards of Identity limit the total amount of stabilizers to less than 0.5 percent for cream cheese.
In addition to inefficiencies in nutrient utilization during production, cream cheeses also lose nutrients during storage as a result of syneresis (i.e., water separation). Acid whey generated by syneresis, although it contains substantial amounts of dairy proteins, cannot be efficiently utilized. Moreover, consumers generally consider syneresis to be a product defect. Therefore, there remains a need for improved methods for producing cream cheeses wherein syneresis is reduced.
Transglutaminases are enzymes which catalyze the cross-linking of proteins. These enzymes have a broad occurrence in nature and may be obtained, for example, from microorganisms such as those belonging to the genus Streptoverticillium or from
Bacillus subtilis
, from various Actinomycetes and Myxomycetes, from fish and other marine sources, from plant sources, and from animal sources (especially mammals).
Food processing methods employing transglutaminase have been disclosed in recent years. For example, Japanese Patent 59059151 discloses treating an emulsion containing proteins, oils or fats, and water with transglutaminase to produce a gelatinous, cross-linked gel. However, the cross-linked gel does not have the texture, body, and/or taste of cream cheese. Japanese Patent 02276541 discloses a heat-resistant food protein having a fiber texture prepared by treatment of a protein hydrogel with a transglutaminase in the presence of calcium ions to induce cross-linking of the surfaces of fiber bundles. However, the heat resistant food protein does not have the texture, body, and/or taste of cream cheese.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,956 discloses a transglutaminase purified from strains of the genus Streptoverticillium, and the use of this enzyme to produce gel type foods. This transglutaminase catalyzes formation of protein gelation products from protein solutions to produce conventional gel foodstuffs such as yogurt, jelly, cheese, gel cosmetics, and the like. No methods are disclosed in this patent for using transglutaminase to produce cream cheese or to use transglutaminase to produce cheese without forming a gel. Furthermore, methods are not disclosed in this patent for both acidifying a dairy liquid and cross-linking proteins in the dairy liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,183 discloses a transglutaminase purified from strains of
Bacillus subtilis
, having particular physical and enzymatic characteristics, and a method for producing protein, peptide, or non-protein amino acid polymers that are cross-linked via their glutamine and lysine residues to form intermolecular or intramolecular conjugates. Although transglutaminase is disclosed as being used in cross-linking protein polymers for use in a variety of food substances, no methods are disclosed for using transglutaminase to produce cheese.
Methods have been proposed for increasing the recovery of whey protein into cheese products using transglutaminase. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,424 relates to treatment of a dairy liquid such as milk with transglutaminase and a non-rennet protease to generate cheese curd for hard, soft, or semi-soft cheeses. The disclosed methods do not use transglutaminase to produce wheyless cheese; nor do the methods use an acidifying agent, such as a lactic acid producing culture, for making a cheese.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,598 and its European counterpart EP 0 711 504 A1 disclose a process for producing cheese using transglutaminase added to milk at a concentration of at least one international unit (IU) transglutaminase per gram milk protein. The transglutaminase is added at the same time as a clotting enzyme and a lactic-acid producing culture; the milk is then incubated. This patent does not disclose a process for using transglutaminase for producing wheyless cheese. Patent publication WO 97/01961 discloses a method for producing cheese using transglutaminase. Transglutaminase is added to milk, followed by a short incubation period, after which a clotting enzyme or curding agent is added to the milk to produce curd. WO 97/01961 does not disclose the use of transglutaminase to produce wheyless cheese.
The current invention meets longstanding needs in the art discussed above. For example, the current invention meets the important need of a process for producing cream cheese in which whey nutrients are not lost in the process. Furthermore, the current invention meets the need of providing a process for preparing wheyless cheese having the texture, body, and taste of conventional cream cheese. Finally, the current invention meets the need of a cream cheese product with significantly reduced syneresis.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The current invention includes a process for making cream cheese wherein nutrients typic
Han Xiao-Qing
Lincourt Richard Harold
Pfeifer Jochen Klaus
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.
Wong Leslie
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