Cream cheese: Historical, manufacturing, and physico-chemical aspects

Abstract

Cream cheese is an acid coagulated particle microgel with a structure consisting of protein-covered milk fat globules, forming aggregated clusters at different scales, with pores filled with whey and characterised by its creamy taste and spread-ability. This review focuses on the technology for the production of high fat cream cheese, its historical background and evolution from 1870 until today, covering the different processing developments and breakthroughs. In addition, fundamental physico-chemical aspects arising from technological and processing steps, that influence cream cheese properties, are discussed.