The latest in the war on saturated fats and sodium is apparently
being waged on cheese, and it just may be a losing battle. Under
pressure to help reduce these obesity-causing elements in
American diets, dairy scientists and research institutes have
been experimenting with ways to make cheese healthier that
consumers will like. But the New York Times reports that the
result is something few would eat. "When you take a lot of the
fat out, essentially cheese will turn into an eraser,” Gregory
D. Miller, president of the Dairy Research Institute, told the
Times. Salt acts a preservative and helps to develop flavor of
the cheese, while fat affects moisture level and texture. Mess
with these elements too much and you get a watery, tasteless
product. “But we have not been able to crack the code,” Miller
told the Times. Swiss and mozzarella are naturally lower in salt
than others, so it is not too difficult to lower sodium levels.
But processed cheeses are more problematic because they sodium-
containing emulsifiers