Danisco debuts cheese-making aid
The ingredient, called Chymostar Supreme, adds to the suite of cheese cultures Danisco has been building since its 2004 buy-out of Rhodia Food and 2005 incorporation of Genencor that allowed it to produce enzymes such as chymosin. "As a leader in cheese cultures, we can better serve our customers, having Chymostar Supreme in our portfolio, and now we have the internal capabilities to produce it, which we acquired through the acquisition of Genencor in 2005," said vice president of Danisco Cultures Division, Doug Willrett. Stomach for it FPC is typically more stable in price because of the wild variations that can occur in the animal rennet (calf stomach) market due to an uneven supply. "Bovine chymosin, the most widely used cheese coagulant in the world, is available as an extract from calf stomachs (animal rennet) and from fermentation (FPC)," said Willrett. "Some of our culture customers prefer chymosin in the form of animal rennet, and some will likely prefer to use FPC. Historically, animal rennet has fluctuated in price depending on the availability of the raw materials while FPC is less sensitive to changes in raw material prices. We will let our customers choose which form of chymosin is best for their operations." Chymosin is important in cheese manufacture because it functions as a coagulant and adds to Danisco's existing range of cheese cultures. Cheese aids The Danish ingredient supplier told DairyReporter.com that there were less than a handful of ingredients in the area on-market. "Chymostar Supreme matches the quality and performance of other commercial coagulants and gives cheese-makers another source ofFPC," says Willrett. "It also gives Danisco a more competitive offer in today's marketplace. It is truly a new development for Danisco." Willrett said Chymostar would be "competitive" in terms of pricing and had been "approved for use in several countries around the world." "Other countries will be added pending completion of regulatory and local registration requirements," he said. In addition to veal, major sources of milk coagulants include adult cows and pigs. Fungal sources include Rhizomucor miehei, Endothia parasitica and Rhizomucor pusillus while, more recently, chymosins can also be sourced from genetically-modified microbes such as Escherichia coli, Kluyveromyces lactis and Aspergillus niger.
