Crops major Cargill says it has launched a breakthrough innovation that enables the cost-effective production of a 100-per cent non-dairy cheese analogue for pizzas and other prepared food dishes.

The lygomme ACH optimum functional system replicates the functionality of dairy protein and replaces it fully with a cost advantage for the manufacturer.

Fabien Bouron, senior dairy applications specialist at Cargill Texturising Solutions, said, "Cheese represents approximately 15 per cent of a pizza recipe and given its high and fluctuating price, it can have a significant impact on the cost of frozen pizza production. In order to protect their margins, manufacturers have traditionally had to choose between raising pizza prices, limiting portion sizes, or using a blend of different cheeses depending on their current market value."

The new process removes this instability by offering manufacturers a cheaper cheese alternative for pizza which can be used to completely replace highly volatile dairy proteins. Furthermore, its appearance, taste and texture match those of processed cheese based on dairy proteins and are similar to those of traditional hard cheeses, such as gouda, cheddar or gruyere.

The new cheese is made of ingredients that remove price fluctuations and provides up to 60 per cent cost reduction compared with a standard analogue cheese (which on average contains 15 per cent dairy proteins) and over 200 per cent when compared with traditional cheeses such as mozzarella or emmental.

The new cheese provides the same key physical and rheological properties as those of analogue pizza cheeses: taste, firmness, appearance, shreadability and melting behaviour.

Apart from cost benefits, the dairy-free cheese contains less calories, with no saturated fats, and less phosphate as no melting salts are used in production. It is also an option for lactose intolerant individuals and vegans. It is also eligible for Halal and Kosher certification.

The new cheese processing system was showcased by Cargill at FIE 2009 from 17-19 November in Frankfurt, Germany. It was one of the three nominees for the Food Ingredients Excellence Awards 2009, 'Dairy Innovation of the Year' category.

Cargill Texturizing Solutions is a supplier of texturisers and emulsifiers to the global food and beverage industry.

Founded in 1865, Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services operational in 68 countries.