Difference Between Analog Cheese and Regular Cheese
In the shops you can find today a “cheese product” which in technical terms is called analog cheese. Analog cheese means “instead of cheese” and you are not allowed to use the cheese name on the packaging. Often cheeses got replaced with names like “topping,” and the like.
It is encouraging the development of new products on the market and that consumers have more options to choose from. But it is difficult to see on the package if it is analog or real, something that can easily get consumers to believe that they buy real cheese when in reality it is not.
Since the analog cheese added flavor and color to resemble real cheese, it’s easy to believe that you buy cheese when it is actually an analog cheese. It is mandatory to have a last name. This will tell if the product is cheese, or if there is something else.
Analog cheeses contain milk, but all or parts of milk fat is replaced with vegetable oil. People with milk allergy can not use these products because they contain milk protein.
Take a second look at the name and contents of the product. If any of the milk fat is removed and replaced with other fats, the product according to the definitions in the cheese-regulation is not called a cheese. It is analogue of cheese if it has vegetable oil contents .
The contents you will see that we are talking about several different oil types such as. Palm kernel oil, palm oil or hardened rapeseed oil. A mixture of palm kernel oil and palm oil is probably the most common. In recent years there has also been analog cheeses on the market in which milk fat is replaced with canola and sunflower oil. None of these are allowed to call their product for the cheese.
Taste is individual, but many would argue that analogue cheeses do not taste the same as regular cheese.