Cheese package

Abstract

To provide a cheese package having fibrousness with improved tearability.SOLUTION: A cheese package is provided, having fibrousness and intended to be eaten by being torn, and constituted in such a manner that it is packaged with an inert gas substituted package and / or by encapsulation of an oxygen scavenger agent, wherein an amount of liquid components attached to a surface of the cheese is reduced. It is preferable that the oxygen permeability of the packaging material used in the packaging is 100 fmol / (m2 s Pa) or less, and the surface liquid content of the cheese is 0.02 ml / g or less.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a package of fibrous cheese. [Background technology]

[0002] Fibrous cheese, commonly referred to as "string cheese" or "string cheese," is a type of cheese that has a certain degree of directional elasticity and fibrous properties, and that can be torn into numerous thin threads in a certain direction by hand. Such fibrous cheese is obtained by adding lactic acid bacteria and a milk-clotting enzyme to raw milk to curdle it, cutting it, and removing the whey to obtain cheese curds. The resulting cheese curds are then heated and stretched to a certain extent to form a rod or slab, which is then cooled and solidified (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such fibrous cheeses maintain a certain demand in the market because the unidirectional fibrous properties give the torn pieces a unique texture, offering a particularly pleasant chewiness. Furthermore, because they can be handmade in cheese factories around the country, a variety of cheeses are sold as souvenirs. However, because such fibrous cheeses are eaten by tearing them apart, excessive moisture or other liquid components on the cheese surface can make them slippery when torn. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-256685 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present invention aims to solve the problem that when fibrous cheese has an excess of liquid components such as water on its surface, the cheese tends to slip when torn apart. This problem is unique to fibrous cheese, which is eaten by tearing it apart, and does not occur with other cheeses. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention is a cheese package comprising the following components: (1) A package of fibrous cheese, characterized in that the package is packaged by gas replacement packaging and / or by containing an oxygen absorber. (2) The oxygen permeability of the packaging material used in the package is 100 fmol / (m 2 The cheese package according to (1), characterized in that the compressive strength is 1.0 s·Pa or less. (3) A cheese package according to (1) or (2), characterized in that the amount of liquid components on the surface of the cheese is 0.02 ml / g or less. (4) The cheese has a substantially cylindrical shape (including a shape with a substantially elliptical bottom), a substantially polygonal prism shape (including a substantially rectangular prism shape and a substantially triangular prism shape), and a base area of ​​0.5 cm 2 The cheese package according to any one of (1) to (3) above is characterized in that: (5) The cheese has a substantially flat shape and a cross-sectional area perpendicular to the fiber direction of 1.0 cm 2 The cheese package according to any one of (1) to (3) above is characterized in that: [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the cheese packaging of the present invention, the amount of liquid components such as water adhering to the surface of fibrous cheese can be reduced, and as a result, the slipperiness of fibrous cheese when torn can be reduced. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The packaging body of the present invention will be specifically described below. It is known that fibrous cheese loses its fibrous properties as the time from production increases, and therefore, during distribution, it is necessary to maintain the fibrous properties for as long as possible. Furthermore, as is a common issue for all foods, food packaging is required to prevent the growth of microorganisms such as mold during distribution. To address both of these issues simultaneously, fibrous cheese is generally distributed in a vacuum-packed form. On the other hand, as shown in the problem of the present invention, if an excess of liquid components such as water adheres to the surface of fibrous cheese, there is a problem that the hands tend to slip when the cheese is torn apart. The inventors have discovered that this problem occurs when liquid components such as water flow out of the cheese in the direction of the fibers when the fibrous cheese is vacuum-packaged, causing the liquid components to adhere to the surface of the cheese. In the present invention, by using a packaging method other than vacuum packaging, the amount of liquid components such as moisture adhering to the surface of fibrous cheese is reduced, thereby solving the problem of cheese being slippery when torn. That is, the present invention was made based on the discovery that gas-exchange packaging and / or packaging with an oxygen scavenger is effective in suppressing cheese deterioration while also suppressing the amount of liquid components on the cheese surface. In the present invention, the term "liquid component" refers to liquid components present inside the cheese package, such as water, whey, and fat, and mixtures thereof.

[0008] The fibrous cheese of the present invention may be natural cheese or processed cheese, but refers to cheese that has the property of being torn in a certain direction. In the case of cheese that does not have this property, even when vacuum-packaged, there is no problem of liquid components such as water leaking out along the fiber direction. Furthermore, since cheese is rarely torn to eat, there is no problem of the liquid components on the surface slipping when torn. There are no particular limitations on the method for producing fibrous cheese, but examples include a method commonly known as the pasta filata method, in which cheese curds are kneaded and stretched to form a shape. For methods of producing fibrous cheese, see, for example, the descriptions in JP-A-11-505406 and JP-A-56-164744.

[0009] The shape of fibrous cheese is not particularly limited, but considering that it has the property of being torn in a certain direction, it is preferably an approximately cylindrical shape (including one with an approximately elliptical bottom) or an approximately polygonal prism shape (including an approximately rectangular prism shape and an approximately triangular prism shape). Since the subject is cheese, it is natural that the cross-sectional shape may be somewhat deformed, and even cheese with both ends cut at an angle does not pose any problems in the practice of the present invention. Such an approximately cylindrical shape or an approximately polygonal prism shape allows the physical property of being torn to the fullest. In the case of these shapes, from the viewpoint of ease of tearing, it is preferable to make the base area 0.5 cm or less. 2 It is also possible to mold fibrous cheese into a roughly flat plate, and in this case, the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the fiber direction is preferably 1.0 cm or more. 2 It is preferable that the above is set.

[0010] As mentioned above, the fibrous cheese may be natural cheese or processed cheese, but the amount of surface liquid component is preferably 0.02 ml / g or less. If the amount of surface liquid component is greater than 0.02 ml / g, the fibrous cheese becomes very difficult to tear.

[0011] The present invention is characterized in that the fibrous cheese is packaged using gas replacement packaging and / or the inclusion of an oxygen absorber. Unlike vacuum packaging, these packaging methods prevent liquid components such as water from leaking out along the cheese fibers. Any gas replacement packaging method or oxygen absorber commonly used for food products can be used without any particular limitations. For example, in the case of gas replacement packaging, the air remaining in the package can be replaced with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or carbon dioxide gas when the cheese is packed. Oxygen absorbers generally available on the market can be used as appropriate. In either case, it is preferable to package the cheese so that the residual oxygen content in the package is 2% or less, but the lower the residual oxygen content, the better the shelf life.

[0012] The packaging material used in the present invention is a gas-replenished packaging material and / or a packaging material containing an oxygen absorber, and therefore has an oxygen permeability of 100 fmol / (m 2 It is preferable to use packaging materials with an oxygen permeability of 500 fmol / (m s·Pa) or less. Usable packaging materials include PET, polyamide (Ny), EVOH, PVDC, and cyclic olefins (COC, COP), PE, PP, and PS with aluminum vapor deposition, silica vapor deposition, or alumina vapor deposition on one or both sides, and PE, PP, and PS cellophane with a coating on one or both sides and an oxygen permeability of 500 fmol / (m s·Pa). 2 ·s·Pa) or less, and all of these packaging materials have an oxygen permeability of 100 fmol / (m 2 It is preferable to configure it so that the thermal expansion coefficient is 1.0 s·Pa or less.

[0013] The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to test examples and examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these. [Test Example 1]

[0014] 30 g of cylindrical fibrous cheese approximately 1 cm in diameter was produced using the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 164744 / 1981. The resulting fibrous cheese was packaged in aluminum-coated PET packaging material with nitrogen gas (Product 1), without gas exchange but with an oxygen scavenger (Product 2), with an oxygen scavenger and nitrogen gas exchange packaging (Product 3), vacuum-packaged (Comparative Product 1), or simply sealed without any of the above (Comparative Product 2), and stored at 10°C. These samples were subjected to measurement of the amount of liquid components on the surface, and sensory evaluation of flavor and ease of tearing after 14 days and 60 days of storage. The amount of liquid components on the surface of the cheese was measured by using filter paper to adsorb the liquid components on the surface of the cheese and in the packaging material, measuring the weight of the filter paper before and after adsorption, and calculating the weight increase. The sensory evaluation of flavor and ease of tearing was carried out by 10 panelists on a 5-point scale, with a high score (good flavor, easy to tear) being given 5 points and a low score (poor flavor, difficult to tear) being given 1 point. The average score of 4 points or more was given an O, 3 points or more but less than 4 points was given a △, and less than 3 points was given an X. The results after 14 days of storage are shown in Table 1, and the results after 60 days of storage are shown in Table 2.

[0015] [Table 1]

[0016] [Table 2] [Example]

[0017] Fibrous processed cheese produced by the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-177848 was cut into 1 cm square prisms and packaged in aluminum-coated PP packaging material under carbon dioxide gas exchange. The resulting cheese packages were stored at 10°C for 7 and 60 days, after which the surface liquid content and sensory evaluation were performed using the same method as in the test examples. The surface liquid content of the sample after 7 days was 0.015 ml / g, and the surface liquid content after 60 days was 0.018 ml / g, indicating good flavor and tearability. On the other hand, vacuum-packed processed cheese with similar fibrous properties showed a surface liquid content of 0.028 ml / g after 7 days and 0.025 ml / g after 60 days at 10°C, indicating that it was difficult to tear in both cases. [Example]

[0018] Fibrous processed cheese produced by the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-177848 was cut into 0.5 cm x 5 cm plates and packaged in aluminum-coated PP packaging material under carbon dioxide gas exchange. The resulting cheese packages were stored at 10°C for 7 and 60 days, after which the surface liquid content and sensory evaluation were performed using the same method as in the test examples. The surface liquid content of the sample after 7 days was 0.014 ml / g, and the surface liquid content after 60 days was 0.019 ml / g, indicating good flavor and tearability. On the other hand, vacuum-packed fibrous processed cheese plates of the same shape showed a surface liquid content of 0.035 ml / g after 7 days at 10°C and a surface liquid content of 0.031 ml / g after 60 days, indicating that they were difficult to tear.

Claims

1. A package of fibrous cheese intended to be torn and eaten, characterized in that the package is packaged by inert gas replacement packaging and / or by enclosing an oxygen absorber, and in that the amount of liquid components adhering to the surface of the cheese is reduced.

2. The oxygen permeability of the packaging material used in the packaging is 100 fmol / (m ２ 2. The cheese package according to claim 1, wherein the compressive strength is 1.0 s.Pa or less.

3. 3. The cheese package according to claim 1, wherein the amount of liquid component on the surface of the cheese is 0.02 ml / g or less.

4. The cheese has a substantially cylindrical shape (including a shape with a substantially elliptical bottom), a substantially polygonal prism shape (including a substantially rectangular prism shape and a substantially triangular prism shape), and a bottom area of ​​0.5 cm ２ The cheese package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:

5. The cheese has a substantially flat shape and a cross-sectional area perpendicular to the fiber direction of 1.0 cm ２ The cheese package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:

6. Packaging fibrous cheese intended to be eaten by tearing it into pieces using inert gas replacement packaging and / or oxygen absorber packaging. The method for reducing liquid components on the surface of cheese and preventing deterioration of cheese flavor comprises:

7. The packaging material used in the package has an oxygen permeability of 100 fmol / (m ２ ・s・Pa) or less 7. The method for reducing liquid components on the surface of cheese and preventing deterioration of cheese flavor according to claim 6,

8. The amount of liquid component on the surface of the cheese is 0.02 ml / g or less.

8. The method for reducing liquid components on the surface of cheese and preventing deterioration of cheese flavor according to claim 6 or 7, characterized by:

9. Before packaging, the cheese is cut into a shape of approximately cylindrical (including those with an approximately elliptical base), approximately polygonal prism (including approximately rectangular prism and approximately triangular prism) with a base area of ​​0.5 cm or less. ２ Forming into a shape that is equal to or greater than The method for reducing liquid components on the surface of cheese and preventing deterioration of cheese flavor according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising:

10. Before packaging, the cheese is cut into a roughly flat plate having a cross-sectional area of ​​1.0 cm2 perpendicular to the fiber direction. ２ Forming into a shape that is equal to or greater than The method for reducing liquid components on the surface of cheese and preventing deterioration of cheese flavor according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising:

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