Colorimeters and Cheese Measurement

Process cheeses which we often see in shops are produced from natural cheeses such as cheddar, gouda, etc. Natural cheese are cheeses in which live bacteria or enzymes remain in the cheese; such cheese are mainly imported to Japan from overseas. Process cheeses are produced from natural cheese by stopping the ripening process using heat as shown below. This heat causes the cheese to turn brown. The degree of browning depends on the kind of natural cheese of the country and season in which it was produced. To produce high-quality process cheese requires using natural cheese which does not brown easily. A cheese factory has been using the Colorimeter to measure the degree of browning of the natural cheese in the selection process. The measuring method is as follows; (In this factory, plastic wrap is used to prevent the specimen from stocking to the Colorimeter.) 1. cut a specimen 15mm in length and 10 cm in diameter from the natural cheese and set it on wax paper.