Processed cheese karat friendship. Cheese "Druzhba"

The main raw materials for processed cheeses are a variety of dairy products: hard cheeses, cottage cheese, whey powder, milk, butter, milk protein. Therefore, according to nutritional value processed cheeses are not inferior to hard cheeses. At the same time, their production technology is simpler and faster, because processed cheese curds do not require long aging. Microbiologically, processed cheeses also stand out positively because they undergo heat treatment during melting.

In addition to processed cheeses, there are a lot of cheese products on store shelves, with the same familiar names “Yantar”, “Druzhba”, “Russian”, “Dutch”, “City”. The difference between processed cheese and a cheese product (milk-containing) lies in the fats. So for production processed cheese They use only raw milk with milk fat. The composition of a cheese product (milk-containing) also contains dairy ingredients, but in addition to them there will also be vegetable fats, which replace milk fat in order to reduce the cost of the product. So the first thing that is important to pay attention to when choosing a cheese is its name, in the sense that it is “cheese” or “milk-containing” cheese product".

TESTING
Many consumers treat processed cheese curds with disdain, doubting their origin; they say they are all made with vegetable fats. We decided to check the quality of this product through comparative testing. The dough contains 10 brands of Druzhba processed cheese, all 10 of which are domestically produced. Some are manufactured according to DSTU, some - according to specifications. These are the following brands: “Golden Reserve”, “Vapnyarka”, “Pyryatyn”, “Our Milkman”, “Slaviya”, “Komo”. As well as the brands “Veselaya Korovka”, “Shostka”, “Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant” and “Starokonstantinovsky Dairy Plant”. Processed cheeses were assessed for labeling and packaging and tested in the laboratory, incl. and for the presence of vegetable fats. And, of course, we tasted Friendship, i.e. tasted it.

Labeling and Packaging
Oh, and the processed cheese producers made fun of consumers. First of all, in small print, this applies to all cheesecakes, with the possible exception of “Slavia” (among the tested cheesecakes it has the largest letters). But in some cases, the font size is so small or its contrast with the background is so poor that it is impossible to read the information on the label without a backlit magnifying glass. We, at the Test Center of Expertise, have one; we have learned from the bitter experience of reading labels over 12 years. But even then, after studying 10 cheese curds, my eyes, even with a magnifying glass, simply “popped out of my head.” What about ordinary consumers in the store? Small golden letters on a black background in the “Golden Reserve” cheese. The Cheerful Cow cheese has a color “stretch” on the label, because of this the edge of the label and some of the information turned out to be blue letters on a blue background. "Como" has black letters on a white background, but they are very small. Just a terribly small illegible font on the label of processed cheese from the Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant, the letters merge.

Another big, no, just a huge minus of labeling processed cheeses is the date of manufacture. Only 4 manufacturers applied it with paint, so it can be easily read ("Shostka", "Cheerful Cow", "Golden Reserve" and "Pyriatin"). In the rest, the date is embossed, and if in “Vapnyarka” it can still be somehow made out, then in other cases it is just quiet horror. It will not be possible to really consider the production date of the processed cheeses “Como”, “Our Molochnik”, “Slaviya”, “Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant” and “Starokonstantinovsky Dairy Plant”.

Other comments include the absence of E codes for food additives, as well as carbohydrates in the nutritional value, and unlisted stabilizers. But these remarks faded into the background. The date of manufacture and, accordingly, determining the suitability of a food product is an extremely important part of the labeling, both for consumers and for sellers, otherwise how can they remove expired goods from the shelves. For the above significant comments, some of the cheeses received a “bad” labeling rating, which resulted in a decrease in the overall rating.

As for packaging, the cheesecakes with a tongue for easy opening are “excellent” on this point, while the rest are “good” for packaging.

Laboratory research
Three indicators were checked in the cheesecakes. First - mass fraction fat in dry matter, this figure is indicated on all labels: 50% or 55%. There were no comments on it.

The second indicator to check is the identification of fat, i.e. whether it is completely dairy or whether there are substitutes hidden away. All samples are declared exactly as processed cheese, i.e. real, without vegetable fats. It is worth noting that “Druzhba” pleased us in this sense: all 10 tested cheese curds turned out to be real, dairy products. However, we draw your attention to the fact that in stores there are a lot of processed cheese products with vegetable fats in the composition called “Friendship”. So choose the products you buy carefully.

The third indicator is microbiological safety. IN processed cheese We were looking for E. coli, the presence of which is not allowed in the product. And with this indicator everything turned out to be in order; all tested samples passed the test.

Another test with a microbiological nature was a test for the presence of antibiotics (delvo test). Fortunately for all of us, they were not found in any product.

Organoleptic evaluation
Processed cheese should taste and smell cheesy, creamy, slightly sour or fermented, and moderately spicy. Block cheeses should have a moderately dense or slightly elastic or slightly plastic consistency. The probands did not like the processed cheese "Piryatin", it had a slightly sour, foreign, starchy aftertaste and received a "bad" organoleptic rating.

Processed cheeses, like any other product, may have disadvantages - defects. Mold on the surface processed cheese- this is the result of leaky packaging, this occurs in the group of bar cheeses that are unfairly packaged in foil, especially if they are stored at high humidity. An incorrectly selected, unbalanced recipe, including melting salts, can lead to consistency defects. For example, too liquid, stretchy consistency or, on the contrary, too hard. And the cheese will stick to the foil so much that you won’t be able to bite it off. Another defect is obvious separation of fat and a bitter taste that can occur when very mature cheeses are used as raw materials. If the mixture is not homogenized enough, the structure of the cheese will not be uniform. Too much melting salts can lead to a sandy structure.

Price and quality

use of the Quality Mark on goods...

Most consumers associate a block of processed cheese with 100 grams, but these days quite a few manufacturers produce processed cheese curds weighing 90g. Pay attention to this. To compare the cost of cheese curds, we recalculated it per 100g. So, two cheeses in the dough are more expensive than 6 UAH per 100 g: “Veselaya Korovka” 6.46 UAH and “Starokonstantinovsky Dairy Plant” 6.32 UAH. The most affordable cheese brands were “Como” 4.45 UAH and “Pyryatyn” 4.00 UAH per 100g. Both cheeses have an overall rating of "poor". Friendship "Our Dairyman", "Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant" and "Starokonstantinovsky Dairy Plant" received a "satisfactory" rating. The overall rating is “excellent” for Druzhba processed cheese of the “Veselaya Korovka”, “Golden Reserve” and “Shostka” brands. The overall rating is “good” for the cheese curds “Vapnyarka” and “Slaviya”.

Center of Expertise TEST (www..
Brand) 1	Merry cow	Gold reserve	Shostka	Vapnyarka	Slavia
Name (label data)	processed cheese with vitamins Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba		processed cheese block Druzhba
Manufacturer (label data)		LLC "Reshetilovsky Creamery" / town. Reshetilovka, Poltava region, Ukraine	PJSC "Bel Shostka Ukraine" / Shostka, Sumy region, Ukraine	LLC "Inter-Food" / Tulchin, Vinnitsa region, Ukraine	PJSC "Bashtansky cheese plant" / Bashtanka, Nikolaev region, Ukraine
Weight, g/Price, UAH) 2	100/ 6,46	90/ 5,27	90/ 5,05	90/ 5,05	100/ 5,62
Price 100 g, UAH) 2	6,46	5,86	5,61	5,61	5,62
(label data)	9,5/ 20,3/ 5,6	9,55/ 26,85/ 5,61	4,3/ 21,4/ 12,9	13.2/ 25.3/ not specified	16.4/ 26.4/ not specified
(label data)	244	302,3	262	280	303
Storage period/conditions (label data)		at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days	until the specified date at 0...8 0 C	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...8 0 With no more than 75 days	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days
Compound (label data)	water, hard cheeses, butter, skimmed milk powder, sodium polyphosphate melting salt, stabilization system (carrageenan, glycerin esters, diacetyl tartaric and fatty acids, calcium carbonate salts), salt, acidity regulator citric acid, vitamin complex (vitamins A, E, D3)	hard cheese, drinking water, butter, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, melting salt (sodium polyphosphate), salt, citric acid	water, butter or cheese, hard cheese, stabilizer (modified starch, locust bean gum, carrageenan, potassium chloride), whey powder, fat cheese for melting, melting salt (sodium pyrophosphate, triphosphate), emulsifier (esters of glycerin and diacetyl tartar acids, calcium carbonate), salt, acidity regulator citric acid, natural identical cheese flavoring	cottage cheese, hard cheese, fat and low-fat cheese for melting, butter, skim milk powder, water, emulsifying salt (E450, E451), stabilizer (E406, E407a, E412, E415), natural dye Annatto E160b, preservative E200	hard, semi-hard cheeses, fresh cheese, skimmed milk powder or whey powder, butter, sour cream, melting salt, water
Overall rating (100%)	Great	Great	Great	Fine	Fine
Marking (10%)	satisfaction	satisfaction	Great	satisfaction	Badly)*
Packaging (10%)	Great	Great	Great	Great	Fine
Organoleptics (80%)	Great	Great	Great	Fine	Great
Consistency	Great	Great	Great	Fine	Great
	homogeneous, moderately dense	homogeneous, moderately dense	homogeneous, moderately dense	homogeneous, very dense	homogeneous, moderately dense
Smell	Fine	Great	Great	Fine	Great
	creamy, mild	cheesy, creamy	cheesy, creamy	creamy, mild	characteristic cheesy, pronounced
Taste	Great	Great	Fine	satisfaction	Great
	characteristic creamy, slightly sour		cheesy	not expressed	characteristically cheesy, slightly sour
Physico-chemical indicator	fine	fine	fine	fine	fine
	50 / 50,4	55 / 54,8	50 / 50,5	55 / 55	55 / 55,2
Fat identification	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected
	fine	fine	fine	fine	fine
Escherichia coli, 0.01g is not allowed	not detected	not detected	not detected	not detected	not detected
Presence of antibiotics and sulfa substances (delvo test)	not detected	not detected	not detected	not detected	not detected
Grading scale	Test results apply only to samples that participated in the test. We do not monitor future product changes.
Great	1) - brands are arranged by ratings in descending order, if the ratings coincide - in alphabetical order
Fine	2) - prices are indicated at the time of purchase of samples, November 2013. The price may vary depending on the type and weight of the package, as well as the store
satisfactorily
Badly
very bad	)* - led to a decrease in rating

Center of Expertise TEST (www..
Brand) 1	Our milkman	Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant	Starokonstantinovsky dairy plant	Como	Piryatin
Name (label data)	processed cheese Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba	processed cheese Druzhba
Manufacturer (label data)		PJSC "Novokakhovsky Processed Cheese Plant" / Tavriysk, Kherson region, Ukraine	DP "Starokonstantinovsky dairy plant" / Starokonstantinov, Khmelnitsky region, Ukraine	PJSC "Dubnomoloko" / Dubno, Rivne region, Ukraine	JSC "Pyryatynsky cheese plant" / Pyryatyn, Poltava region, Ukraine
Weight, g/Price, UAH) 2	90/ 4,78	100/ 5,49	90/ 5,69	90/ 4,09	100/ 4,00
Price 100 g, UAH) 2	5,31	5,49	6,32	4,54	4,00
Proteins/fats/carbohydrates, g per 100g (label data)	13/ 25/ 5,6	13.5/ 29.3/ not specified	13/ 25/ 5,6	13.2/ 25.3/ not specified	13.2/ 25.3/ not specified
Energy value, kcal per 100g (label data)	299	317,7	299	280	280
Storage period/conditions (label data)	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days	at -4…0 0 Sleeping for more than 90 days, at 0...4 0 With no more than 75 days
Compound (label data)		water, hard fatty rennet cheeses, butter, cream cow's milk, skimmed milk powder, melting salt E451	butter, full-fat cheese for melting, cottage cheese, water, low-fat cheese for melting, whey powder, skimmed milk powder, emulsifying salt E451, salt, stabilizer (410, E415, E412), flavoring mixture "Solvarom Gouda", preservative sorbic acid	hard cheese, cottage cheese, water, butter cream cheese, whey powder, melting salts (E450, E451, E339), dry skimmed milk, stabilizer "Sold"	hard cheese, cottage cheese, butter, water, butter, whey powder, melting salt (sodium tripolyphosphate), prodamal stabilization system (tar gum, xanthan gum, starch)
Overall rating (100%)	satisfaction	satisfaction	satisfaction	Badly	Badly
Marking (10%)	Badly)*	Badly)*	Badly)*	Badly)*	Great
Packaging (10%)	Great	Fine	Fine	Fine	Fine
Organoleptics (80%)	Fine	Fine	Fine	satisfaction	Badly)*
Consistency	Great	Fine	Fine	satisfaction	satisfaction
	homogeneous, moderately dense	homogeneous, plastic, soft	homogeneous, soft	soft, pasty	heterogeneous, with grains
Smell	Fine	Great	Fine	satisfaction	satisfaction
	cheesy, mild	characteristic cheesy	cheesy, mild	weak cheesy, sour	not expressed
Taste	Fine	Fine	Fine	satisfaction	Badly
	cheesy, slightly sour, quite spicy	creamy, sweetish-sour	cheesy	weak cheesy, sour	slightly sour, foreign, starchy aftertaste
Physico-chemical indicator	fine	fine	fine	fine	fine
Fat content in dry matter, declared/actual, %	50 / 50	55 / 55,2	50 / 50,5	55 / 55,3	55 / 54,9
Fat identification	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected	no non-dairy fat detected
Microbiological indicator	fine	fine	fine	fine	fine

The long-awaited article about the legendary processed cheese has come out - to the delight of all its fans. Of course, there is nothing special about “Friendship”, and in general it is a very boring and inexpressive cheese, and even fatty on top of that. But who knows, maybe “Friendship” won’t seem like a delicacy to us in three months? I can’t answer for you, but I can say for myself for sure: it won’t seem.

A little history and theory

What is processed cheese anyway? IN classic version This is a product that is obtained by melting regular cheese at a temperature of about 80-90 degrees, that is, this is quite a full-fledged cheese. Now, of course, for the production of processed cheese they use not only hard cheeses, butter, cottage cheese and cream, but also powdered milk, as well as various additives.

In the worst case, vegetable fats are used - and then the package will no longer say “cheese”, but “cheese product”. And the price will most likely be low - but, alas, not necessarily. In any case, “Druzhba” from a decent manufacturer is, of course, processed cheese, and not a cheese product.

The year of birth of processed cheese is considered to be 1911, and the inventor of this delicacy is Walter Gerber from Switzerland. Processed cheeses were launched into mass production a little later, and one of the pioneers of this business was the American company Kraft Foods, now known as Mondelez International.

Processed cheese of the Druzhba brand appeared, of course, much later, but still has a half-century history. “Druzhba” is one of the most famous processed cheeses in Russia.

The Moscow Karat processed cheese factory was founded in 1934, and processed cheeses have been developed and produced here since about the 1960s. Currently, Karat produces great amount a variety of melted, soft, fresh and pickled cheeses, as well as sour cream, cottage cheese and other dairy products.

In 2004, “Karat” held a competition to design a monument to the processed cheese “Friendship”. The project of Alexey Semenov and Marina Leskova won the competition; The monument was erected in 2005 in Moscow. It represents a crow and a fox merging in friendly ecstasy with a giant “Friendship” cheese in their paws/wings. This cheese is made of bronze and weighs about 200 kilograms.

The mass fraction of fat in the dry matter of the Druzhba cheese produced by Karat is 55%. Ingredients: cheese, butter, cottage cheese, water, cream, milk powder, emulsifying salts (E339, E452), table salt, preservative potassium sorbate (safe for health with moderate occasional use and no contraindications). Fat content - 24%. Energy value - 287 kcal/100 grams.

Druzhba cheese is produced by Karat in several formats, including classic cheese (90 grams), “baths” (230 grams), plastic packages with slices (150 grams) and boxes (200 and 400 grams, as well as 140 grams with 8 pieces of cheese in foil packages). Next we will talk about the classic boxed version; cheese, it seems to me, is somewhat different from it.

Personal impressions

“Druzhba” cheese from “Karat” has a light yellow color and a soft, rather dense consistency. It spreads great on bread and crackers. The aroma is rather weak and not particularly expressive. The taste is soft, close to neutral, slightly sweet, milky and creamy. The aftertaste is short. Overall, a simple cheese without any bright features.

Where to buy and how much it costs

Druzhba cheese can be bought in many places: both in supermarkets (Seventh Continent, Perekrestok, Metro Cash&Carry) and in non-chain stores. Druzhba cheese weighing 90 grams costs about 25 rubles. A 400-gram package will cost approximately 120-130 rubles.

Innings

“Druzhba” is a classic sandwich cheese; It's hard to think of another use for it. Of course, you can’t put it on a cheese plate, and you can’t serve it as a dessert. Perhaps it would be suitable as an ingredient for some sauce.

Viscous consistency, which is obtained from rennet cheeses using a special technology at high temperature.

On sale it can be found in jars and boxes, in briquettes and recognizable triangles wrapped in foil, as well as in slices that do not need to be spread, but simply placed on top of a piece of bread. The product is popular due to its delicate taste and the ability to give the plastic mass any shape. Many manufacturers add herbs, mushrooms, pieces of meat and vegetables to it, which has led to the emergence of many original delicacies.

Story

Processed cheese is a modern product, the recipe for which was discovered in 1911. The authorship belongs to Walter Garber, a resident of the Swiss city of Thun. The technique was patented in 1916 by James Kraft, owner of Kraft Foods. But mass production began only in the 50s of the twentieth century. The famous Druzhba cheesecakes appeared in the USSR in 1933, but the technology for their production was also used in Switzerland.

It is believed that the idea of ​​cooking is associated with brie cheese, which has a runny consistency inside. Elite French variety For a long time it was not available to everyone, so inventors were looking for an opportunity to create a cheaper and no less tasty analogue.

Cooking methods

Traditional technology for the production of processed cheese is the pasteurization of cheese products and additives mixed together at a temperature of 75-95°C. This treatment makes the mass viscous and viscous, the composition is homogeneous, destroys harmful microorganisms, while preserving useful ones and protecting ready product from damage.

Later, another technology appeared - UHT. Here the processing is carried out at a temperature of 140°C, which leads to complete sterilization. There are no microorganisms left in the cheese mass at all.

These types can only be distinguished by the shelf life on the packaging. A live product can be stored for no more than six months, a sterile product - a year or longer.

Types of processed cheeses

Due to the uniformity of the preparation method, varieties are usually divided only according to taste characteristics and consistency. So, they distinguish:

1. Pasty.

This mass is very similar to thick sour cream, it differs high content fat and moisture, plasticity, recognizable delicate taste and aroma. It is packaged mainly in boxes and jars and is easy to spread. It is produced in its traditional form without additives (creamy) or with numerous additives.

2. Lomtevoy.

It has a thicker consistency than paste and is easily cut into slices and pieces, which is why it got its name. Fat content of the product is 50-70%. It is most often packaged in foil. Traditional “Friendship” belongs to this type. There are creamy processed cheeses and those with additives.

3. Sausage.

This variety has the hardest consistency and the most low content fat Packaged in rockers (like sausage). Traditional additives to such a product are cumin and pepper. As an additional processing, it can be produced, which gives a special piquant and recognizable taste.

4. Sweet.

The same cheese, but containing natural or natural-identical flavorings that give it a sweet taste and aroma. Particularly popular are varieties with cocoa, coffee, honey, nuts, syrups, berries, and chicory.

It is necessary to distinguish real processed cheese from derivative cheese products. Original cheese is made exclusively from dairy products, the cheese product is made using vegetable fats that replace dairy components, sometimes with the addition of additional elements, for example, soy.

Moreover, the latter has a lower cholesterol content, so it can be consumed by people who are generally prohibited (this is especially true for diseases of the cardiovascular system).

Composition and benefits

The standard composition of processed cheese includes:

• dairy products: cottage cheese, butter, milk, rennet cheeses;
• salt;
• preservatives (special substances developed specifically for cheeses and harmless to health, if not exceeding a certain daily dose- this can only be contained in a few kilograms of cheese).
• melting salts: non-toxic and harmless substances that melt the cheese mass and make it homogeneous;
• thickener (traditionally this is E407);
• flavorings;
• dyes.

Compared to solid ones, melted ones are absorbed almost 100%, and their cholesterol content is much lower. At the same time, the product contains many other useful elements:

• Calcium.
• Sodium.
• Phosphorus.
• Amino acids.
• Fatty semisaturated acids.
• Fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E.

Energy value (calorie content) different varieties fluctuates in the range of 220-360 kcal. This makes processed cheese nutritious product, useful for the formation of bone tissue, teeth, nails and hair. It is also a natural source of protein necessary for normal muscle growth and development and brain function.

How to store

It is best to buy one that is packaged in foil, glass or plastic. But if purchased plastic container, it must be exclusively polypropylene, as indicated by the PP marking on the bottom. If the marking is PS - polystyrene, it is better to refuse such a purchase, since in many countries the storage of any food products in a similar container.

Contraindications

Like any other product, processed cheese is harmful if you eat too much of it. Also, allergy sufferers and people with lactose intolerance (about 2% of it in the composition) should try it with caution. At increased acidity stomach, slow absorption of the product is observed. In other cases, you can enjoy it and decorate any feast.

Processed cheeses are cheaper than their classic “brothers,” especially aged ones. But does it mean in this case Which is cheaper = less useful? What do you have to give up for the sake of being cheap?

Specialists from the NP Roskontrol carried out an examination of ten processed cheeses from nine manufacturers at the Federal Budgetary Institution Rostest-Moscow and the Moloko Research Center of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "VNIMI". Among them were “Yantar” and “Druzhba” from the Karat plant, Viola from Valio, as well as President, Hochland, “Vesely Molochnik”, “Syrobogatov”, Valde, “Rostagroexport” and “B.Yu.Alexandrov” cheeses. " As it turned out, the quality of processed cheeses is not many better cheeses curds, previously tested by Roskontrol.

Fraud or intent?

During the examination, many indicators were assessed, but perhaps the most interesting was the question of the presence palm oil. Vegetable fats found in 2 out of 10 tested cheeses - in Druzhba (Karat) and in processed cheese from Rostagroexport. The remaining samples, surprisingly, were real processed cheeses. There was no palm or other vegetable fats in them. And two falsified cheeses were included in the Black List of NP Roskontrol.

True, the fact of deliberate falsification of cheeses by the manufacturer is not as obvious as it might seem to us, consumers. It's all about the production features. Processed cheeses are made from regular cheeses, which can be purchased from different suppliers. It is they who can “slip” a cheese product containing vegetable fats instead of real cheese. After all, it is objectively simply beyond the capabilities of processed cheese producers to provide complete incoming control for each unit of product. So, in modern terms, Karat and Rostagroexport could have been “framed” by suppliers of raw materials.

Bacteria and preservatives

Consumers often pay attention to bacterial contamination of the product. And rightly so, this is the most important indicator of quality and safety. The presence of pathogenic microorganisms in the product can lead to severe poisoning. Fortunately, in this regard, all the cheeses turned out to be safe - in terms of microbial content, the results were within the normal range, and experts did not find yeast or mold in them. True, experts still noted that in processed cheese “B.Yu. Alexandrov” the number of microorganisms was at the maximum permissible level by technical regulations.

To prevent spoilage of processed cheeses, the preservative sorbic acid (additive E200) is often added to them. This is permissible if it is indicated as part of the product on the label, there is no violation. True, this does not make the cheese more natural, and a product without E200 is still preferable when purchasing.

Excess phosphorus is scary

Processed cheeses practically cannot be completely natural. The fact is that melting salts are necessarily added to them; they give the cheese a plastic consistency. In this capacity, so-called phosphates (salts of phosphoric acids) are most often used. nutritional supplements E339-E341 and E450-E452). They began to be used in the USA. Before that, in the very first processed cheeses made in Switzerland, they used citrates - salts citric acid, which can be completely natural. But now almost all manufacturers have switched to phosphates. The problem is that today these additives are Food Industry are used very widely. They are found in almost all sausages and meat products, semi-finished products, bread and many other products. As a result, we get much more phosphates than we need.

— Phosphorus is a very important element for the human body. And in itself it is not harmful. However, entering the human body in large quantities, phosphates “interfere” with the absorption of calcium. With an excess of phosphorus and a lack of calcium, the latter is “washed out” from the bones. Up to the development of osteoporosis. This is what is called decreased bone density. As a result, this contributes to the occurrence of fractures, sometimes even with minor injuries. And for the growing body of a child or teenager, an imbalance between the intake of phosphorus and calcium is fraught with disturbances in the formation of the skeleton, says doctor, Head of expert direction, NP Roskontrol Andrey Mosov.

According to technical regulations, the composition of processed cheese can contain no more than 2% (20 g/kg) of phosphates by weight of the cheese. It is not possible to directly measure the amount of added phosphates, since some phosphorus is present in the cheeses themselves. Therefore, experts carried out calculations that made it possible to roughly estimate the content of introduced phosphates. Judging by the calculations, at least three manufacturers “did not fit” into the permitted framework. Yantar (Karat) contained the most phosphates, Hochland cheese was in second place, and President completed the list of violators with a slight excess.

Taste and color

The technical regulations clearly define the organoleptic characteristics of processed cheese. And if we stick to the letter of this document, experts had certain comments about the taste and smell of most cheeses. Thus, bitterness was detected in the taste of President and Yantar (Karat) cheeses. Various foreign flavors or the taste of oxidized fat were detected in Valde, “Vesely Molochnik”, “Syrobogatov”, “Rostagroexport” and “B.Yu.” cheeses. Alexandrov." The Viola cheese had a noticeable taste of pasteurization, although it can be considered more of a feature than a drawback. The taste of only four cheeses completely satisfied the strict experts: “Druzhby” (“Karat”), “Syrobogatov”, Viola and Hochland.

Table. Quality indicators of processed cheeses

Note: Major violations are highlighted in bold.

1968 In France there are mass student riots, Soviet tanks are entering Prague. Richard Nixon wins the US presidential election. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis. The number of American troops in South Vietnam reaches 486 thousand people. Two dozen great films of all time are being released across the country, including “The Diamond Arm”, “We’ll Live Till Monday”, “War and Peace”, “New Adventures of the Elusive” and “The Color of Pomegranates”. And in the experimental laboratory under the leadership of M.F. Kuleshova, the main Soviet snack was born - processed cheese “Friendship”. At the same time, they are creating two more: “Wave” and “Summer”. All three products were made exclusively from natural materials: high-quality cheeses, butter, cream, milk powder, spices and salt melters were used. All this was mixed, crushed, melted at 90 degrees, poured into molds, cooled in special chambers and wrapped in foil with a corporate logo, on which the stroke of the letter “D” hugged a blue globe on a yellow background. Unlike the Yantar cheese, invented as an alternative to the Finnish Viola, Druzhba had no ideological basis. It was invented just like that, for the sake of friendship between peoples. And indeed, the product had a bonding effect. Housewives made soups and salads from it, the working class spread it on sandwiches, students and intellectuals ate 777 port wine. The St. Petersburg Mitki generally lived on it for several years: “Mitek bought 3 kg of brawn (30 kopecks per kg), 4 loaves of bread, two packs of margarine for satiety, thoroughly mixed these products in a basin, boiled them and rolled them into a ten-liter bottle. Thus, food for a month cost him about 3 rubles. Mitek can eat only processed cheese for months...” 12 thousand tons of cheese were produced per year - that’s eight train sets, each car containing fifty cars. And these cars stretched across the Union, like the stroke of the letter “D” across the globe.

Natalia Vishnyakova