Whey cheese is a dairy product made of whey, the by-product of cheesemaking. After the production of most cheeses, about 50% of milk solids remain in the whey, including most of the lactose and lactalbumin.[1] The production of whey cheese allows cheesemakers to use the remaining whey, instead of discarding it as a waste product.
There are two fundamentally different products made of whey and called whey cheese:[2]
- Albumin cheese, made by coagulating the albumin in the whey with heat and possibly acid. Examples include ricotta and mizithra.[3] Lactose content is low.[4]
- Norwegian brunosts ("brown cheese"), made by boiling down the whey to concentrate the sugar, and consisting primarily of caramelized milk sugar. Mysost is such an example. Since these are not primarily made of coagulated milk proteins, they are technically not cheese.[3][5] Lactose content is high.[4]
Cheese and whey cheese are distinct categories in the Codex Alimentarius.[4] In the appellation system of the European Union, protected whey cheeses are included in class 1.4 for "other products of animal origin" instead of class 1.3, for "cheeses".[6]
- ^ Marth, Elmer H. (1999). Fundamentals of Dairy Chemistry (Third ed.). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Aspen Publishers. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-8342-1360-9.
- ^ Charles Thom, Walter Fisk, The Book of Cheese, 1918, reprinted in 2007 as ISBN 1-4290-1074-6, p. 295
- ^ a b Fox, Patrick F. (2004). Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology. Vol. 2. Academic Press. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-08-050094-2.
- ^ a b c Codex Alimentarius Commission (2011). Milk and milk products (PDF) (Second ed.). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization. p. 83. ISBN 978-92-5-105837-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2024.
- ^ Scott, R.; Robinson, R. K.; Wilbey, R. A. (1998). Cheesemaking Practice (3rd ed.). New York City: Kluwer Academic\Plenum Publishers. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7514-0417-3.
- ^ "Geographical indications and traditional specialities". European Commission. Retrieved 10 August 2014.