A can of Easy Cheese and an example cracker spread
Easy Cheese is the trademark for a processed cheese product distributed by Kraft Foods, also referred to as aerosol cheese, spray cheese or simply Cheese in a Can, and is a descendant of squeeze cheese (a semi-solid cheesefood from the 1970s packaged in a squeezable plastic tube). It comes packaged in a spray can, much like canned whipped cream and does not require refrigeration. Easy Cheese has its own entry in Sterns' Encyclopedia of Bad Taste.[1] It was originally marketed from 1965-84 as Nabisco Snack Mate[2].
[edit] Ingredients
Easy Cheese contains milk, water, whey protein concentrate, canola oil, milk protein concentrate, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, calcium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid, sodium alginate, apocarotenal, annatto, cheese culture, and enzymes.[3]
[edit] Health aspects
Easy cheese is a highly processed product and should not be consumed in large quantities. Many of the ingredients like sodium phosphate, which inhibits calcium absorption, are highly disputed.[4] It is also very high in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol[5], raising the risk of cardiovascular disease like high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes type 2.[6]
[edit] Can design
Although sometimes called "aerosol cheese", its container is not actually an aerosol spray can, because the cheese does not combine with a propellant (nitrogen) to turn into a fine mist upon being sprayed. Rather, the can contains a piston and a barrier plastic cap which squeezes the cheese through the nozzle in a solid column when the nozzle is pressed and the propellant expands in volume. The propellant, therefore, does not mix with the cheese. This explains why the can has a small rubber plug on its base. Normal aerosol cans are charged with all of their contents through the single opening at the top, but spray cheese cans are separately charged with cheese through the top and propellant through the bottom. The can design also ensures that the cheese can be dispensed with the can upright or inverted. The can technology was developed in 1975 by Jean Hardt, a Swiss engineer working for Swiss Aluminium Ltd.[7]
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