Analytical Report - Traditional English cheese

Introduction

The composition of many traditional English cheeses is set out in regulations with a minimum level of milk fat and a maximum amount of water. The regulations protect consumers by ensuring a quality standard for the products, namely Cheddar, Blue and White stilton, Derby, Leicester, Cheshire, Dunlop, Gloucester, Double Gloucester, Caerphilly, Wensleydale and Lancashire.

The market has developed such that cheese products i.e. cheese with additional ingredients such as fruit, peppers, onions are increasingly common. As a finished product these fall outside the compositional standards. A mini survey of these cheese products was conducted in 2007 with 4 labelling issues being identified. A survey of cheese without additional ingredients was therefore undertaken to ensure the compositional standards are being maintained and also to assess the products against the Food Standards Agency’s voluntary salt targets.

Forty samples of cheese (Caerphilly, Cheddar, Cheshire, Double Gloucester, Lancashire, Leicester and Wensleydale) were submitted for analysis to Kent Scientific Services, the Public Analysts for Kent County Council.

Summary of Results

All the samples were reported satisfactorily for fat and water so giving consumers confidence that the products meet the legal standards.

Salt levels per 100g varied between types of cheese as would be expected and also within the same type of cheese. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has set voluntary targets for salt in many staple foods to help reduce the intake of salt by consumers. The targets vary dependent on the type of cheese recognising the different processes for producing different types of cheese i.e. hard pressed cheese, fresh cheese, mozzarella, UK blue cheese and processed cheese. There are technical issues with salt reduction as too little salt can adversely affect the texture of the product.

All the cheeses sampled in this survey as traditional English cheeses fall within the hard pressed cheese category. This category is split with a separate target for mild (1.7g per 100g) and mature (1.95 per 100g).

These targets are an average but to assess the market at present the table below indicates how many of the samples taken in the survey met these targets. Only 7 of the samples did not achieve the FSA target and as the target is for 2010 there is still time for manufacturers to adjust their production to voluntarily meet the targets.

* unless the cheese was specifically described as mature, the tighter mild levels have been applied as the target.

In May 2009 the FSA set further voluntary targets for 2012. For hard pressed cheeses there is one average target regardless of the mild or mature characteristics of 1.8g per 100g. This new target is challenging for mature cheeses but more relaxed for the mild category and as a result only 6 samples exceeded this target. In some cases the difference between the level of salt found and the target is quite small so given the lead in time is achievable for these producers.

Report date: June 2009