(12) United States Patent Jaswal et a].

Transcription

1 US B2 (12) Unted States Patent Jaswal et a]. (10) Patent N0.: () Date of Patent: Oct. 29, 13 (54) CREAM SUBSTITUTE (75) Inventors: Varnder Sngh JasWal, Rchmond Vctora (AU); Joanne Dxon, Cheltenham Vctora (AU) (73) Assgnee: Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, North?eld, IL (US) ( * ) Notce: Subject to any dsclamer, the term of ths patent s extended or adjusted under U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. (21) Appl.No.: 12/899,995 (22) Fled: Oct. 7, 10 () Pror Publcaton Data US 11/ A1 Apr. 14, 11 () Foregn Applcaton Prorty Data Oct. 9, 09 (AU) (51) Int. Cl. A23C 13/14 (06.01) (52) US. Cl. USPC /586; 426/582 (58) Feld of Class?caton Search USPC /582, 586 See applcaton?le for complete search hstory. (56) References Cted U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,929,892 A 12/1975 Hynes et a1. 5,079,024 A * 1/1992 Crane /573 5,2,2 A * 10/1993 Banach et a /580 5,470,593 A 11/1995 Melnger et al. 5,676,984 A 10/1997 Bohanan et a1. 6,177,117 B1* 1/01 Irvn /582 6,689,2 B1 2/04 Nauth et a1. 04/ A1 3/04 Hussen et a1. 04/ A1 12/04 Hne et a1. 05/ A1 6/05 Chaetal. 05/02144 A1* 9/05 Laye et a /582 05/ A1 11/05 Merrll et a1. 05/ A1 11/05 Merrll et a1. 05/ A1 12/05 Merrll et a1. 06/ A1 2/06 Abboud et a1. 06/ A1 8/06 Trecker et a1. 07/009 A1* 3/07 Blndt et a /582 08/ A1 2/08 Moore et a1. 08/ A1 2/08 Moore et a1. 08/01133 A1* 7/08 Brooks et a /36 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP A1 5/1992 EP A1 8/1995 EP B1 6/00 EP A1 11/03 EP A1 9/05 EP A1 8/06 EP 198 A1 10/08 GB A 5/1980 JP A 4/00 WO 89/087 A2 6/1989 WO 04/ A1 3/04 WO 05/ A1 1/05 WO 06/0126 A1 2/06 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Texturzng and Stablzng, by Gum! 04. Prepared Foods Net work. [Onlne]. Downloaded from <URL : preparedfoods.corn/artcles/prnt/ >. 7 pages.* Australan Examner s Report, Australan Patent Applcaton No , Oct. 19, 10, 4 pages. Australan Examner s Report No. 2, Australan Patent Applcaton No , Dec. 15, 11, 2 pages. Australan Examner s Report No. 3, Australan Patent Applcaton No , Apr. 26, 12, 2 pages. Bakker, N. H., Manufacturng of Quarg, Antone van Leeuwenhoek, pp , vol. 49, No. 1, Jan New Zealand Examner s Search Report, New Zealand Patent Appl caton No. 5889, Oct. 4, 10, 3 pages. New Zealand Examner s Search Report, New Zealand Patent Appl caton No. 5889, Apr. 3, 12, 2 pages. * cted by examner Prmary Examner * Carolyn Paden (74) Attorney, Agent, or Frm * Ftch, Even, Tabn & Flannery LLP (57) ABSTRACT Cream substtutes are descrbed comprsng: a cheese curd, a water source, and a combnaton of gums that provde the cream substtute the texture of a thck cream, and/or stablty aganst ol separaton. The gums may be locust bean gum and xanthan gum. The amount of cheese curd n the composton s typcally not more than about % by weght of the total ngredents. There s also provded a process for the manu facture of a cream substtute, comprsng: combnng a cheese curd, a water source, and hydrated gums, to form a mxture, n whch the amount of cheese curd s not more than about % by weght of the total ngredents, homo gensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme suf?cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst Clams, 2 Drawng Sheets

2 US. Patent Oct. 29, 13 Sheet 1 0f2 <_ Gum and water MIX (2) <_ % Quarg and water Mx (3) MIX (4) MIX (5) HEAT AND MIX (6) STANDARDISATION (7) PASTEURISATION (8) HOMOGENISATION (9) HOLD (10) <_ % Quarg, powdered ngredents <_ Cream cheese, cream and acdty regulator <_ Emulsfer FILL (11) Fgure 1

3 US. Patent 0a. 29, 13 Sheet 2 of2 Mx (1) Mx (2) MIX (3) Mx (4) Mx (5) HEAT AND MIX (6) STANDARDISATION (7) PASTEURISATION (8) HOMOGENISATION (9) HOLD (10) FILL (11) <_ Gum and water <_ Gum and water <_ Powdered ngredents and water < Quarg and % cream cheese <_ % Cream cheese and acdty regulator <_ Emulsfer Fgure 2

4 1 CREAM SUBSTITUTE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Ths applcaton clams prorty from Australan Patent Applcaton Number AU ,?led Oct. 9, 09, Whch s hereby ncorporated heren by reference n ts entrety. FIELD The present applcaton relates to a cream substtute sut able for use n the preparaton of foods n place of full fat dary cream, and to methods for the manufacture of the cream subst The cream substtute s partcularly suted to use n cookng at elevated temperatures. BACKGROUND Natural dary cream s used extensvely n cookng a range of food products, ncludng savoury dshes, such a creamy pasta sauce, and sweet dshes, such as cream-contanng des serts. Creams are avalable n a varety of physcal forms. The consstency of dary creams often correlates to ther fat con tent, however ths can be mod?ed by added thckeners to some extent. At one end of the spectrum of consstency s regular cream, otherwse referred to as sngle cream n the UK and Australa, or as lght table or coffee cream n the USA. These creams have a thn, runny pourable con sstency and typcal fat contents of about 18% to % depend ng on the country. The next thcker consstency of cream types n the spectrum s referred to as thckened cream or Whppng cream n Australa and the UK, or as medum cream, lght Whppng cream or Whppng cream n the USA. These thcker creams have a thcker but stll pourable consstency, and have typcal fat contents of about -36% for regular-fat level varetes, although low fat varetes contan ng added gums for thckness may have a lower fat content, such as 18%. At the upper end of the spectrum are the thck creams, Whch are known as double creams n Australa and the UK, or as extra-heavy, double, or manufacturer s cream n the USA. These creams have a consstency such that a spoonful of the cream falls as a dollop from the spoon. The cream cannot be poured n a constant stream. In contrast to ths, a spoonful of cream cheese or a cream cheese-type spread Wll stck to the spoon and Wll only be dslodged as a lump f scraped off the spoon. Such creams of ths consstency resultng n the formaton of a dollop as the cream falls from a spoon s referred to heren as thck cream. Natural dary creams have a number of dsadvantages. These creams have a lmted shelf-lfe, typcally less than two Weeks under refrgerated storage condtons. If these creams are thermally processed to ncrease the shelf lfe, ths can adversely affect the propertes of the cream, ncludng sen sory and organoleptc attrbutes ncludng taste, mouthfeel, texture, colour and odour. In addton, When subjected to heatng to elevated tempera tures typcal n cookng, such as n the preparaton of savoury cream-based sauces, the cream becomes runner and fals to adhere to other food products beng coated, resultng n?a vour beng lost from the food product tself as the creamy lqud pools at the bottom of the dsh. Further, under heatng condtons, creams can separate. Even at room or refrgeraton temperatures separaton or syneress can occur. 2 A further dsadvantage of natural dary creams s that creams of a thcker consstency tend to have a hgher fat content. There s a publc nterest n reducng the fat content of ngredents used n cookng, although Wthout loosng the taste and textural propertes that come from the fat content. A number of cream substtutes have been proposed prev ously. HoWever, these cream substtutes are often desgned to be dary fat-free and/ or contan vegetable fats and ols n place of the dary fats or other dary ngredents. Ths results n the cream substtute havng a?avour and organoleptc propertes that do not suf?cently closely approxmate those of natural dary cream. In addton, these substtutes do not address the other problems assocated Wth dary cream, such as stablty n cookng, thckened consstency, and retanng good coatng propertes on food at elevated temperatures. Often these cream substtutes are desgned to provde a cream replace ment for Whppng, Whch nvolves dfferent propertes to those desred for a cream substtute sutable foruse n cookng applcatons. Accordngly, t s desred to produce a cream substtute that addresses one or more of these de?cences n natural dary cream. It s also desred that the cream substtute be based on dary ngredents, to retan a dary-based?avour. It s also desred to develop a method for the preparaton of a cream substtute that enables these desrable propertes to be obtaned. SUMMARY Accordng to the present dsclosure, there s provded a cream substtute based on a cheese curd component and Water, and havng a sutable gum combnaton to provde the texture of thck cream, and/ or stablty n cookng at elevated temperatures. The present dsclosure also provdes a method for the producton of a cream subst Accordng to one embodment, there s provded a cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd, a Water source, and a combnaton of gums that provde the cream substtute the texture of a thck cream. The combnaton of gums utlsed n the product preferably provde stablty durng prolonged cookng at elevated tem peratures. Thus, accordng to another embodment, the present dsclosure provdes a cream substtute (or cookng cream) comprsng: a cheese curd, a Water source, and a combnaton of gums that provde the cream substtute stablty aganst ol separaton followng smmerng for a tme of up to about 10 mnutes. Smmerng occurs at a temperature between about 85 and about 9 C. Preferably, the cream substtute has stablty aganst ol separaton followng smmerng for a tme of up to about mnutes. Other propertes of the cream substtute are a shelf-lfe of at least about 4 months, and typcally at least about 6 months. The desred consstency of the product and ts cookng stablty durng smmerng s contrbuted to by the relatvely low levels of cheese curd present n the composton. The amount of cheese curd n the composton s typcally not more than about % by Weght of the total nput ngredents, and n some embodments s not more than about %. One spec?c combnaton of gums that has been found to provde the consstency of a thck cream, and stablty aganst

5 3 ol separaton durng cookng s locust bean gum and xanthan gum. Thus, one embodment provdes a cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd n an amount of not more than % by Weght, a Water source, locust bean gum and xanthan gum. The cream substtute s preferably vegetable-ol free. In other Words, the cream substtute s a dary-based cream subst Optonal addtonal ngredents for ncluson n the product nclude one or more of the followng: one or more addtonal gums or textursng agents (other than the locust bean gum and xanthan gum), one or more emuls?ers, one or more mouth coatng agents, one or more thckenng agents, and one or more fat sources (such as a dary fat source). Addtonal desred ngredents may nclude one or more mlk solds, lqud dary ngredents,?avours, preservatves, bulkng agents or?llers and acdty regulators. Accordng to one embodment, there s also provded a process for the manufacture of a cream substtute, comprs ng: combnng a cheese curd, a Water source, and hydrated gums, to form a mxture, n Whch the amount of cheese curd s not more than about % by Weght of the total ngredents, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst The mxture generally requres heatng and mxng at a temperature and for a tme su?cent to ensure that the actve ngredents, ncludng the gums, have functonalsed to develop the desred textural and stablty propertes. Homogensng and pasteursng can be performed n any order. Preferred ngredents to be combned n the process are as dent?ed above for the cream substtute product. Thus, the hydrated gums sutably comprse hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum. Detals of the optons for hydrat ng these gums are outlned n further detal below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 s a process?ow dagram for one embodment; and FIG. 2 s a process?ow dagram for a second embodment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present dsclosure relates to a cream substtute that s sutable for use as a natural dary cream substtute, and pro vdes advantages over natural dary cream. Some of those advantages may be stablty durng cookng at elevated tem peratures for prolonged perods of tme, the consstency of a thck cream, and the ablty to mantan a good coatng on food products. Another advantage of the product s a longer shelf lfe compared to natural dary cream. The cream subst tute s dary based, and n varous embodments s free of vegetable fats and ols. Accordngly, the?avour and organo leptc propertes farly closely approxmate those of natural dary cream. The product also avods an excessvely acdc cheese?avour, of the type that may be present n cheese spreads such as cream cheese spreads. The term cheese substtute s used broadly to refer to a product sutable for use as a substtute for cream. The cheese 4 substtute s preferably a product sutable for use as a subst tute for cream n cookng at elevated temperatures, and may therefore be referred to as a cookng cream. Cheese Curd The cream substtutes of the present dsclosure comprse a cheese curd. The term cheese cur refers to the curd of unrpened cheese or fresh cheese, examples of Whch nclude cream cheese, quarg, cottage cheese, and any other soft Whte cheese. Ths class of cheese excludes rennet rpened cheeses and long-lfe cheeses such as cheddar cheese. Such unrpened cheeses are typcally produced through the acd?caton of a dary product such as cream and/ or mlk, and collecton of the curd separated from the Whey n the coagulum so produced. The acd?caton may come about through culturng Wth a sutable culture, such as a lactc acd-producng bactera. Although such cheeses are unrpend (and thus are not sub jected to a proteolytc rpenng process Wth rennet), small amounts of rennet can be added durng the producton of these types of cheeses to functon as a curd?rmer. The reference to cur ndcates that the cheese may be used n the form of the collected curd followng separaton of the Whey, however t Wll be apprecated that the cheese curd may be used or present n a combnaton Wth other components or ngred ents, ncludng, Wthout lmtaton, Whey. Accordng to one embodment, the cheese curd may be selected from one or more of cream cheese, cottage cheese, quarg and any other soft Whte cheese. The cheese curd may be selected from one or more of cream cheese, cottage cheese and quarg. Accordng to some embodments, the cheese curd s selected from one or a combnaton of cream cheese and quarg. Cream cheese, cottage cheese, quarg and soft Whte cheeses are Well known types of cheese n the dary ndustry. Cream cheese s a rch unrpened cheese produced from the culturng mlk and cream, Whch provdes a hgher dary-fat content n the?nal product. Quarg, otherwse known as quar or baker s cheese n some countres, s made by a smlar process usng low-fat mlk or skm-mlk, and ths produces a lower fat fresh cheese curd product. Cottage cheese s made n a smlar process to quarg, and also utlses low- or non-fat mlk as the startng materal. The amount of cheese curd n the product s determned based on a combnaton of the followng factors: the need to obtan the requred proten range; too hgh a proten level n the product results n a product that s too thck and bndng the need to obtan the desred fat level for the productt s generally desred for the fat level to be below the levels tradtonally assocated Wth regular and low fat creams, for the cream-substtute equvalents; the dentty of the spec?c cheese curd product to be used (Whch s also based on the above factors). Natural dary creams of a regular fat content typcally contan a fat content of around about % (such as about -%). In a cream substtute for a regular fat level cream, t s desred for the fat content to be around about % under ths level, so the target fat content, Whch s contrbuted to n Whole or n part by the cheese curd, s desrably n the range of about 18% to about 28%, such as about % to about 28%, or about 22% to about 27%, and generally at around a target level of about %. As descrbed n further detal below Wth reference to optonal addtonal ngredents, some of the fat content may also be contrbuted to by dary fat-contanng ngredents, ncludng cream.

6 5 Natural dary creams of low fat content typcally contan a fat content of around about 18% (such as about 12-%). In a cream substtute for a low fat level cream, t s desred for the fat content to be around about % under ths level, so the target fat content, Whch s contrbuted to n Whole or n part by the cheese curd, s desrably n the range of about 8% to about 18%, such as about 10% to about 16%, or about 10% to about 14%, and generally at around a target level of about 12%. For such low fat cream substtutes, t s generally desred for most or all of the fat content of the?nal product to come from the cheese curd. To acheve these fat levels (and the desred proten levels), for a cream substtute for regular fat cream, the cream sub st tute may comprse a combnaton of about % to about % cheese curd, preferably between about % and about % cheese curd (notng that the total fat n the product may be contrbuted to by other ngredents n the product). Accordng to one embodment, the cream cheese substtute comprses between about 5% and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about % quarg or cottage cheese (preferably quarg). Accordng to one spec?c embodment, the cream cheese substtute comprses between about 5% and about 15% cream cheese, and between about 15% and about % quarg. To acheve these fat levels (and the desred proten levels), for a cream substtute for lght fat cream, the cream substtute may comprse a combnaton of about % to about % cheese curd. Accordng to one embodment, the cream cheese substtute comprses between about 15% and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about % quarg or cottage cheese (preferably quarg). Accordng to one spec?c embodment, the cream cheese substtute comprses between about % and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about 15% quarg. All percentages heren are to be read as beng references to percentages by Weght. It s noted that When consderng the amount of cheese curd n the cream substtute, the percentage amounts are measured as a percentage by Weght of the total ngredents used n the producton of the cheese substtute durng manufacture. The cheese curds used n the producton of the cream substtute typcally have a sgn?cant mosture content. The mosture content s generally Wthn the range of about -90%. As one example, quarg has a mosture content of around about 80-90% (such as about 85%). Typcal proten contents for quarg are around about 6-12% (such as about 9.4%), casen contents are typcally around about 8.70%, and fat contents are typcally very low at around less than about 2% (such as about 0.17%). As another example, cream cheese curd has a mosture content of around about -% (such as about 54.5%). Typcal proten contents for cream cheese curd are around about 5-10% (such as about 7.4%), casen contents are typcally around about 6.8% and fat contents are typcally hgher at around about -% (such as about 34%). When assessng the Weght of cheese curd n the product, the mos ture content naturally present n the cheese curd s ncluded n the measurement. It follows that a sgn?cant amount of the cheese curd component s mosture, partcularly When a hgh mosture content cheese curd s used, such as quarg. Ths contrbutes to the texture of the?nal product. It s desred, for both regular-fat and low-fat varetes, that the proten level of the product be around about 2-6%. The level s preferably about 2-5% for a lght fat cream substtute, and about 2-6% for a regular fat cream subst The pre ferred proten content range for each s about 3.5 to about 4.5%. 6 Target and typcal values for proten levels, casen levels, mosture content and fat content for a lght fat cream subst tute, and a regular fat cream substtute of some embodments are outlned below (all measured as % by Weght): Typcal Target Typcal Target Typcal range for Mosture Fat Proten Casen proten content content Level (%) level (%) (%) (%) (%) Lght Regular Water Source The cream substtutes of the present dsclosure nclude Water, Whch may be provded n the composton from any source. Water may come from the Water content present n the cheese curd component, such as quarg, or may be provded as Water per se. The total mosture content of the product may be around about -78%. For a regular fat cream substtute, the mosture content may be around about % to about 72%, such as about 62% to about 70%, or about 66% (+/ 2%). For a lght fat cream substtute, the mosture content may be around about 66% to about 78%, such as about 68% to about 76%, or about 72% (+/ 2%). The gums present n the composton are selected to pro vde the desred propertes of the cream substtute, such as cookng stablty and/or texture. Sutable gums nclude, n partcular, a combnaton of locust bean gum and xanthan gum. Ths spec?c gum comb naton has been found through extensve test Work to provde the requred textural and stablty propertes for the cream subst Locust bean gum (LBG) provdes the propertes of holdng the matrx together, and provdes textursng propertes and a creamy mouthfeel. Durng manufacture of the product, t s desred for the locust bean gum to be hydrated (and not undercooked ) to provde functonalty. Hydraton typcally takes up to about 10 mnutes, although longer hydraton tmes can be used. Hydraton may be carred out n-stu n the manufacturng process, or as a prelmnary hydraton step, Wth the hydrated gum optonally beng held n a separate tank n a pre-hydrated state ready for use. Hydraton may be carred out Wth Water or a Water source at an elevated temperaturearound 6 C. s typcal, to assst n hydraton. There should be suf?cent free Water for full hydraton. In vew of the hgh Water content of quarg, f quarg s used as the or one of the cheese curd materals, the Water content n the quarg can be used n hydra ton of ths gum (or any other gums present n the compos ton). The amount of locust bean gum n the cream substtute s sutably between about 0.05% and about 0.2%. For a regular fat cream substtute, the level s sutably between about 0.06% to about 0.18%, and typcally around about %. As one example, the level may be around about 0.096% (+/ 0.01%). For a lght fat cream substtute, the level s sutably between about 0.05% to about 0.15%, such as about 0.06% to about 0.12%, and typcally around about %. As one example, the level may be around about 0.072% (+/ 0.01%). Xanthan gum provdes bndng propertes, and keeps the solds suspended n the cream substtute Wthout bndng so strongly as to make too sold a product. Other gums nvest

7 7 gated n place of xanthan gum dd not provde equvalent propertes to the xanthan, especally n combnaton Wth locust bean gum. Durng manufacture of the product, the xanthan gum should also be hydrated (and not undercooked ) to provde functonalty. The detals regardng hydraton of the locust bean gum above, ncludng detals of the hydraton tme, Water source, temperature, n-stu or pre-hydraton, apply equally to the xanthan gum. The amount of xanthan gum n the cream substtute s sutably between about 0.005% and about 0.08%. For a regu lar fat cream substtute, the level s sutably between about 0.005% to about 0.08%, such as about 0.01% to about 0.05%, and typcally around about %. As one example, the level may be around about 0.024% (+/ 0.005%). For a lght fat cream substtute, the level s sutably between about 0.005% to about 0.05%, such as about 0.008% to about 0.04%, and typcally around about %. As one example, the level may be around about 0.018% (+/ 0.005%). The relatve amount of locust bean gum to xanthan gum n the cream substtute s sutably between about : and about 95:5; n other cases between about 70: and about 90:10, and typcally Wthn the range of about 75: to about 85:. A rato of about 80: s one example. Accordng to one embodment, the locust bean gum and the xanthan gum are combned Wth the cheese curd followng completon of any culturng or acd?caton to produce the cheese curd. It s desred that the cheese curd used n the manufacture of the product does not contan gums that Were added pror to culturng or acd?caton, as ths may adversely affect the vscosty of the?nal product. Other Gums Whlst locust bean gum and xanthan gum have been found to provde the most sutable propertes for the cream subst tute, other gums or gum combnatons may be found that provde the propertes desred n the cream substtute n place of the locust bean gum and xanthan gum combnaton. Other gums that may be consdered n ths context nclude one or more gums selected from locust bean gum, xanthan gum, carragenan, guar gum, cellulose-based gums, ncludng car boxy methyl celluloses (CMC, ncludng all salts thereof such as sodum carboxy methyl cellulose), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose, algnates, ncludng algnate salts such as sodum algnate, pectns of all types, agar, arabnogalactab or larch gum, tragacanth gum, gum arabc or acaca, gellan gum and karaya gum, or mxtures thereof. Other Ingredents Optonal addtonal ngredents for ncluson n the product nclude one or more of the followng: one or more addtonal gums or textursng agents (other than the locust bean gum and xanthan gum), one or more emuls?ers, one or more mouth coatng agents, one or more thckenng agents, and one or more fat sources (such as a dary fat source). Addtonal desred ngredents may nclude one or more mlk solds,?avours, preservatves, bulkng agents or?llers and acdty regulators. Textursng Agents The cream substtute of some embodments may comprse one or more addtonal gums or textursng agents (other than 8 the locust bean gum and xanthan gum). These may be selected from the lst of gums lsted above, or from other textursng agents known n the art, ncludng gelatne. Some of the locust bean gum can be substtuted Wth guar gum as an addtonal gum/textursng agent. One example of a sutable textursng agent for ncluson n the cream substtute s gelatne. Gelatne s a textursng agent and provdes a more gelled-texture to the product through ts gellng propertes. The gelatne asssts n provdng a more spoonable or short texture, so that the cream substtute falls as a dollop from a spoon or contaner, Wthout a long gummy tal. Gelatne may be present n an amount of about 0-3% of the cream subst When present, t may be present at a level of about % of the cream subst For both regular fat and lght fat cream substtutes, the level s sutably between about %, such as around about 0.08% to about 0.5%. In a regular fat cream substtute, the level may be around about 0.1% (+/ 0.05%), and n the lght fat cream substtute, the level may be around about 0.15% (+/ 0.05%). One example of a sutable addtonal gum/textursng agent s carboxymethylcellulose. Carboxymethylcellulose may be present n an amount of about 0-3% of the cream subst When present, t may be present at a level of about % of the cream subst For both regular fat and lght fat cream substtutes, the level s sutably between about %, such as around about 0.08% to about 0.5%. As one example, the level may be around about 0.15% (+/ 0.05%). The level s sutably chosen so as not to mpart a slmy texture to the cream subst Ths agent also provdes mouth-feel propertes. The cream substtute of some embodments may comprse one or more emuls?ers. The emuls?er may be selected from one or more of the mono- and d-glycerdes of fatty acds, acetc and fatty acd esters of glycerol, lactc and fatty acd esters of glycerol, ctrc acd esters, ctrc and fatty acd esters of glycerol, dacetyltartarc and fatty acd esters of glycerol, polyglycerol esters of fatty acds, mxed tartarc, acetc and fatty acd esters of glycerol, sucrose esters of fatty acds, propylene glycol esters of fatty acds, sorbtan monostearate, sorbtan trstearate, polyoxy sorbtan esters, polysorbates (such as polysorbate 80, or ) and lecthns. As one example, the emuls?er may comprse a dacetyl tartarc and fatty acd ester of glycerol. One example of ths type of emuls?er s sold under the trade mark Panodan. Ths agent ads n preventng ol separaton at elevated cookng temperatures. The amount of emuls?er should be chosen to provde sutable emulson propertes, Wthout beng present at so hgh a level as to mpart an adverse?avour on the cream subst As a gude, the emuls?er level may be from about 0% to 0.3%, and sutably about % When present. The level s preferably not more than about 0.2%. Sutable levels for ncluson n a regular fat cream substtute are about %, such as about 0.15% (+/ 0.03). Sutable levels for ncluson n a low fat cream substtute are about %, such as about %, and around about 0.114% (+/ 0.03). Regardng the process of manufacture, the emuls?er should be ncorporated at a tme When the temperature s suf?cently hgh, such as at least about 0 C., or around about 6 C. It s therefore approprate to add the emuls?er as the last, or one of the last ngredents durng manufacture, but pror to pasteursaton and homogensaton. Ths apples par tcularly for fat-based or trglycerde-based emuls?ers such as dacetyltartarc and fatty acd esters of glycerol. Ths

8 enables the emuls?er to functonalse and exert ts emulsfy ng effect mmedately on addton. Mouth Coatng Agents Mouth coatng agents may be selected from the lst of gums lsted above. Some gums provde textursng propertes, and mouth-coatng propertes. An example of an agent provdng ths effect s CMC. Thckenng Agents Sutable thckenng agents nclude all varety of starches, ncludng mod?ed or functonal starches. Amongst the range of thckenng agents that may be consdered are dstarch phosphate, phosphated dstarch phosphate, acetylated ds tarch phosphate, starch acetate ester?ed Wth acetc anhy drde, hydroxypopyl starch, hydroxypropyl dstarch phos phate and starch sodum octenylsuccnate. One example of a referred to as Mod?ed Waxy MaZe N-Creamer n the Examples. The starch may be present n an amount of about 0-1.5% of the cream subst When present, t may be present at a level of about 02-15% of the cream subst For both regular fat and lght fat cream substtutes, the level s sutably between about %. As one example, a regular fat cream substtute may comprse about 0.7% starch (+/ 0.1%), and a lght fat cream substtute may comprse about 0.8% starch (+/ 0.1%). Fat Sources The cream substtute of some embodments may comprse a fat source. Ths fat source s other than (.e., addtonal to) the cheese curd, Whch provdes a certan fat level to the cream subst The ncluson of an addtonal fat source s partcu larly suted for a regular fat cream substtute, Where the total fat level for the product allows for the ncorporaton of some fat to ncrease the fat level, and provde creamy?avour and mouthfeel. The fat source s preferably a dary fat source, and s preferably cream. Other dary fat sources avalable nclude concentrated mlk fat or anhydrous mlk fat. The fat content of the cream may be n the range of about 18% to about 80%, or about % to about %, and s sutably n the range of about % to about %, such as around about -42% fat content. In the low fat cream substtute, the cream substtute s preferably free of any fat source other than the cheese curd. In the regular fat cream substtute, the fat source s preferably cream, and the fat source s preferably added n an amount of between about 0% and about % by Weght, preferably about 0-% by Weght, such as about 10-% by Weght, about -% by Weght, or about -% by Weght of the cream subst Addtonal Ingredents The cream substtute of some embodments may comprse one or more addtonal ngredents. Sutable ngredents nclude mlk solds and lqud dary ngredents (such as Whey proten concentrates, skm mlk powder, non-fat dry mlk (NFDM), mlk proten concentrate, casen, lqud Whey pro ten concentrate, Whey proten solate, lqud or dred sweet Whey, lqud or dred acd Whey and the lke, as Well as mxtures thereof),?avours (such as salt, sweeteners, frut?avours or fruts, vanlla, and the lke), preservatves (of any sutable starch for use as a thckenng agent n the cream substtute s starch sodum octenylsuccnate, Whch s 10 known type, such as sorbc acd), bulkng agents or?llers (such as maltodextrn and the lke) and acdty regulators (such as food grade acds such as ctrc acd, and food grade alkals, such as trsodum phosphate). The bulkng agent con tent may be between about 0% and about % by Weght. Acdty regulators may be used When requred to adjust the ph of the product to a desred level. A sutable target ph s n the range of about As one example, the ph target may be about 4.7. If the ph s below the target value, an alkal may be used to rase the ph, or f the ph s above the target value, an acd may be used to lower the ph. Vegetable-Ol Free The cream substtute s preferably vegetable-ol free. In other Words, the cream substtute s a dary-based cream subst It s noted that some ngredents n the compos ton, such as emuls?ers, may be derved from vegetable ols, and therefore the term vegetable-ol free should be read as meanng the absence of vegetable ols n the ol form. Mnor levels (below about 1%) of products derved from vegetable ols are to be excluded When consderng complance Wth ths requrement. The term vegetable-ol free therefore means that the product contans less than about 1%, preferably less than about 0.5% vegetable ols or vegetable-ol derved ngre dents. Preferably the product contans about 0% vegetable ol n ol form, and less than about 0.5% of any vegetable ol-derved ngredents. Propertes of Cream Substtute The cream substtute sutably has cookng stablty. Cook ng stablty refers to stablty aganst ol separaton (more extreme levels of ol separaton leadng to curdlng and ol ng-off) durng heatng, such as heatng to a smmer, for a tme of at least about 10 mnutes. A typcal smmer temperature s between about 8 C. and 95 C. The product preferably has stablty aganst ol separaton for a tme of at least about mnutes. Generally stablty aganst ol separaton Wll be present for much longer tme perods. In contrast, the ols/ fats n standard cream Wll gve rse to ol separaton and curdlng at about 10 mnutes, and the degree of curdlng Wll be con sderable after about mnutes of smmerng. Tradtonal cream cheeses and cream cheese spreads Wll tend to fal ths cookng stablty test, through ol separaton and possble brownng or burnng. The cream substtute sutably has the consstency of thck cream. A thck cream s de?ned heren as beng a cream havng a consstency resultng n the formaton of a dollop as the cream falls from a spoon. The dollop of cream s requred to fall from the spoon under the acton of gravty, and Wthout scrapng away from the spoon. Generally, the dollop of cream substtute Wll fall from the spoon n a dollop Wthout a gummy or long tal tralng down from the spoon. Ths s also referred to as a spoonable consstency. A thck cream also preferably has the property of leavng an mpresson When a spoonful s removed from a contaner of the cream, Wth a soft edge. Ths texture corresponds to creams known as double creams n Australa and the Unted Kngdom. Ths consstency s dstngushed from products havng the consstency of cream cheese, or cream cheese spreads, n that a spoonful of such a cream cheese/ spread does not drop under the acton of gravty from a spoon, Wthout scrapng away the cheese/ spread from the spoon. The vscosty of cream cheese/ spread and the tackness of the product prevents ths from occurrng, and the product stcks to the spoon.

9 11 A gude for assessng the consstency of the cream subst tute can be provded by testng the product n a Brook?eld vscosty analyser, and a Stevens texture analyser (to measure?rmness). In a Brook?eld vscosty test, about a 0 gram hot sample of the product (at about 70 C.) s requred to have a vscosty of between about 0- cps, preferably about cps, When measured pror to homogensaton durng manu facture, based on a settng of about rpm speed and spndle 6. Ths test shouldbe assessed n the commercal manufacture scale, snce the bench scale results can provde dfferent read ngs for a product of the same?nal consstency. It s noted that cream cheeses and cream cheese spreads generally have a Brook?eld vscosty of about 6,000-7,000 cps at ths temperature. Thus, the consstency s qute dffer ent from the thck cream consstency of the cream substtute products dsclosed heren. In a Stevens texture test, the?nshed product at 5 C. s requred to gve a measurement of between about g and about 0 g, usng a cylndrcal spndle of the type TAll (about.4 mm dameter, about mm long) at a spndle speed of about 1 mm/ s and a spndle travel dstance of about 10 mm. Ths test should be assessed n the commercal manu facture scale, snce the bench scale results can provde dffer ent readngs for a product of the same?nal consstency. Other propertes of the cream substtute are a shelf-lfe of at least about 4 months, and typcally at least about 6 months. Shelf-lfe refers to the perod of tme at Whch the prod uct (such as the cream substtute) can be stored at a refrger ated temperature (about l-4 C.) free from any food spolage/ contamnatng mcroorgansms, and Wthout developng objectonable sensory and functonalty characterstcs, such as an objectonable aroma, appearance, taste, consstency, mouthfeel, off-odour, off-?avour, brown colourng, clump ng, ropy or slppery texture. Process of Manufacture In smple terms, the process for the manufacture of a cream substtute, comprses: combnng a cheese curd, a Water source, and hydrated gums, to form a mxture, n Whch the amount of cheese curd s not more than about % by Weght of the total ngredents, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst Accordng to one embodment, the process comprses: provdng a cheese curd Whch s produced through cultur ng or acd?caton, combnng the cheese curd Wth a Water source and hydrated locust bean gum and xanthan gum, at a tme followng the completon of culturng or acd?caton to produce the cheese curd to form a mxture, n Whch the amount of cheese curd s not more than about % by Weght of the total ngredents, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst Generally, the process does not nclude any culturng step other than culturng to produce the cheese curd. The mxture generally requres heatng and mxng at a temperature and for a tme su?cent to functonalse the 12 actve ngredents, ncludng the gums, and to develop the desred textural and stablty propertes. Thus, the process may comprse the step of: heatng and mxng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su?cent to ensure that the actve ngredents, ncludng the gums, have functonalsed to develop the desred textural and stablty propertes. The desred propertes are those descrbed prevously, ncludng one or more of the propertes of: the texture of thck cream, the vscosty and Stevens texture propertes, and the cookng stablty. Sutable temperatures and tmes for performng ths step nclude temperatures of between about C. and about 80 C., for a tme perod of between about 2 and about mnutes, Wth mxng. It s noted that the ngredents may be pre-heated (for nstance, the gums can be hydrated Wth Warm/hot Water at around about C.), so that the temperature may only requre mantenance at the elevated level already provded by such pre-heatng. Thus, the term heatng s to be read broadly as encompassng pre-heatng of ngredents and/or mantenance of an elevated temperature of ngredents, and/ or the applcaton of addtonal heat energy. It s generally antcpated that there Wll at least be a need to apply some heat energy to mantan or rase the temperature to a sutable level to develop the desred propertes. Sutable temperatures are about -75 C., n some cases about -75 C., and the sutable tme perods are about 5 to about mnutes, pref erably about 10 to about mnutes. The ngredents may be added slowly over the tme perod of mxng. The tme perod therefore ncludes the tme durng addton of the subject ngredents. Homogensng and pasteursng can be performed n any order, and may be performed smultaneously. The ngredents to be combned n the process are as den t?ed above for the cream substtute product. Thus, the hydrated gums sutably comprse hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum. Some detals regardng the pro cess nvolved n hydratng these gums are outlned above. Other gums that may be present may or may not requre hydratng. Detals of the relatve amounts and forms of the ngredents to be ncluded n the process of manufacture can be deter mned by reference to the detaled descrpton of embod ments of the cream substtute product descrbed above. Accordng to one embodment, the process of manufacture comprses: hydratng locust bean gum Wth Water or a Water source, hydratng xanthan gum Wth Water or a Water source, mxng the hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum Wth a cheese curd at an elevated temperature to form a mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst Dependng on the desred cream substtute composton, the ngredents may be combned n an order that promotes the obtanng of the desred textural and stablty propertes. HoWever, generally provded that the gums are fully hydrated, the order of ther ncorporaton can be reversed. Accordngly, n the above embodment, the order of hydratng of the gums and the locaton Where the gums are hydrated s not of sgn?cance, and the steps should not be read as mply ng a partcular order, except Where the language ndcates otherwse.

10 13 For one spec?c embodment suted to the formaton of a lght fat cream substtute, the process comprses: hydratng locust bean gum Wth Water or a Water source, hydratng and combnng xanthan gum Wth the hydrated locust bean gum to form a?rst combnaton, combnng the?rst combnaton Wth powdered ngred ents other than emuls?er to form a second combnaton, mxng the second combnaton Wth cheese curd at an elevated temperature to form a mxture, optonally addng an acdty regulator to the mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst In ths embodment, the powdered ngredents (.e., cream substtute ngredents that are n powdered form) may nclude one or more ngredents selected from an addtonal gum such as carboxymethylcellulose or smlar, a textursng agent such as gelatn, a bulkng agent such as maltodextrn, salt and preservatve. Accordng to one embodment, the powdered ngredents combned Wth the?rst combnaton ncludes each of these ngredents. These ngredents may be added Wth Water or a Water source. The cheese curd may comprse a sngle type of cheese curd, or a combnaton of two or more types of cheese curds, as descrbed above n the context of the?nal product. For example, the cheese curd may comprse quarg and cream cheese curd. These may be added together, or n a number of stages, n Whch each stage may nvolve the addton of a sngle or combnaton of cheese curd types. When present, the emuls?er s preferably added as the last ngredent When the mxture s at a temperature of not less than about C., preferably not less than about C. Accordng to another embodment suted to the formaton of a regular fat cream substtute, the process comprses: hydratng a?rst gum selected from locust bean gum and xanthan gum Wth Water or a Water source, combnng the hydrated?rst gum Wth a?rst cheese curd component, combnng the hydrated?rst gum and?rst cheese curd combnaton Wth a second gum Whch s the other of the locust bean gum and the xanthan gum, Wheren the sec ond gum s pre-hydrated or s hydrated n stu Wth the optonal addton of Water, mxng the combnaton of hydrated gums and cheese curd Wth () a second cheese curd component and () pow dered ngredents other than emuls?er and acdty regu lator, at an elevated temperature, to form a mxture, optonally addng a dary fat to the mxture; optonally addng an acdty regulator to the mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst Accordng to one embodment, the?rst gum s locust bean gum, and the second gum s xanthan gum. The?rst cheese curd may be of the same dentty as the second cheese curd, or may be dfferent. Accordng to one embodment, the?rst cheese curd comprses quarg, and the second cheese curd comprses quarg and cream cheese curd. In ths embodment, the mxng of the combnaton of hydrated gums and the?rst cheese curd Wth () a second cheese curd component and () powdered ngredents other 14 than emuls?er, can be conducted n a sngle stage or n a number of stages, n Whch each stage may nvolve the add ton of ngredents () and () n portons. Thus, n one example, a porton of the () second cheese curd component Whch s a quarg component, together Wth () all of the powdered ngredents other than emuls?er are added n one stage, and n a second stage, a second porton of the () second cheese curd component Whch s cream cheese curd s mxed n to form the mxture. If a dary fat s added to the mxture, ths can be performed at any sutable tme, such as durng mxng of the second porton of the second cheese compo nent. If an acdty regulator s added to the mxture, ths can be performed at any sutable tme, such as durng mxng of the second porton of the second cheese component (and the dary fat, f present). When present, the emuls?er s prefer ably added as the last ngredent When the mxture s at a temperature of not less than about C., preferably not less than about C. In ths embodment, the powdered cream substtute ngre dents may nclude one or more ngredents selected from an addtonal gum such as carboxymethylcellulose or smlar, gelatn, a bulkng agent such as maltodextrn, salt and preser vatve. Accordng to one embodment, the powdered cream substtute ngredents combned Wth the?rst combnaton ncludes each of these ngredents. These ngredents may be added Wth Water or a Water source (quarg beng one example of a Water source). Food Products Food products Whch may be prepared Wth the above descrbed cream substtute nclude, for example, sauces, gra ves, spreads, dps, dressngs,?llngs, toppngs, desserts, and the lke as Well as combnatons thereof. The cream substtute s partcularly Well-suted for preparng savoury sauces (e. g., a cream pasta sauce such as an Alfredo sauce) and desserts (e.g., Tramsu) and can be used n a smlar manner as con ventonal thck or heavy cream n such food applcatons. The cream substtute provdes added convenence, stablty and cookng mprovements n the preparaton of cream-based sauces and desserts, When used as a replacement for all or part of the conventonal cream requrements of the sauce or des sert recpes. In one embodment, there s provded a dary-based food product comprsng the cream subst The food product preferably contans about to about 80 Weght percent of the cream subst Embodments Accordng to a?rst embodment, there s provded a cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd, a Water source, and a combnaton of gums that provde the cream substtute the texture of a thck cream. The cream substtute of the?rst embodment, Wheren the vscosty of a 0 gram hot sample of the product (at 70 C.) s between about 0-about 1800 cps, When measured pror to homogensaton durng manufacture, based on settngs of a rpm speed and spndle 6. The cream substtute of the?rst embodment, Wheren the texture of a C. sample of the cream substtute s between about and about 0 g, measured on a Stevens texture analyser usng a cylndrcal spndle TAl l (.4 mm dameter, mm length) at a spndle speed of 1 mm/s and a spndle travel dstance of 10 mm.

11 15 Accordng to a second embodment, there s provded a cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd, a Water source, and a combnaton of gums that provde the cream substtute stablty aganst ol separaton followng smmerng for a tme of about 10 mnutes. The cream substtute of the second embodment, Wheren the cream substtute has stablty aganst ol separaton fol lowng smmerng for a tme of about mnutes. The cream substtute of the second embodment, Wheren the combnaton of gums comprses locust bean gum and xanthan gum. Accordng to a thrd embodment, there s provded a cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd, a Water source, and locust bean gum and xanthan gum. embodments, Wheren the cheese curd s selected from one or more of cream cheese, cottage cheese, quarg and soft Whte cheese. embodments, Wheren the cheese curd s selected from one or a combnaton of cream cheese and quarg. embodments, Wheren the content of cheese curd s about % to about % by Weght of the cream subst embodments, Wheren the content of cheese curd s between about % and about % cheese curd. embodments, Wheren the cream substtute comprses between about 5% and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about % quarg. embodments, Wheren the fat content s between about 18% to about 28%, preferably Wheren the fat content s between about 22% and about 27%. embodments, Wheren the cream substtute comprses between about 15% and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about % quarg. embodments, Wheren the fat content s n the range of about 8% to about 18%, preferably n the range of about 10% to about 14%. embodments, Wheren the proten content s n the range of about 2.0 to about 6%. embodments, Wheren the mosture content s n the range of about % to about 72%, preferably n the range of about 66% to about 78%. embodments, Wheren the locust bean gum content s between about 0.05 and about 0.2%. embodments, Wheren the xanthan gum content s between about and about 0.08%. embodments, Wheren the relatve amount of locust bean gum to xanthan gum s between about 75: and about 85:15. embodments, comprsng one or more ngredents selected from the group consstng of: 16 one or more addtonal gums or textursng agents, one or more emuls?ers, one or more mouth coatng agents, one or more thckenng agents, and one or more fat sources. embodments, Wheren the cream substtute comprses at least one of each of the followng ngredents, n Whch each ngredent s of a separate dentty: a gum or textursng agent other than locust bean gum and xanthan gum, an emuls?er, a mouth coatng agent, and a thckenng agent. embodments, further comprsng a dary fat. embodments, further comprsng one or more ngredents selected from the group consstng of mlk solds, lqud dary ngredents,?avours, preservatves, bulkng agents or?llers and acdty regulators. embodments, comprsng gelatne. embodments, Wheren the gelatne s present n an amount of about 0.05 to about 3% of the cream subst embodments, comprsng carboxymethylcellulose. embodments, Wheren the carboxymethylcellulo se s present n an amount of about 0.05 to about 3% of the cream subst embodments, comprsng an emuls?er. embodments, Wheren the emuls?er s present n an amount of about 0.05 to about 3% of the cream subst embodments, comprsng a starch. embodments, Wheren the starch s present n an amount of about 0.2 to about 1.5% of the cream subst embodments, further comprsng a dary fat source. embodments, Wheren the fat source s cream. embodments, Wheren the cream content s between about 10 and about % by Weght. embodments, Wheren the cream substtute s free of any fat source other than the cheese curd. embodments, Wheren the cream substtute s vegetable-ol free. Accordng to a fourth embodment, a process for the manu facture of a cream substtute s provded, comprsng: combnng a cheese curd, a Water source, and hydrated gums, to form a mxture, n Whch the amount of cheese curd s not more than about % by Weght of the total ngredents, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme su? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst

12 1 7 The process of the fourth embodment comprsng the step of: heatng and mxng at a temperature and for a tme sul? cent to ensure that the actve ngredents, ncludng the gums, have functonalsed to develop the desred tex tural and stablty propertes. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the heatng and mxng step s performed at a temperature and a tme suf?cent produce a cream substtute havng the texture of a thck cream. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the heatng and mxng step s performed at a temperature and a tme suf?cent to produce a cream substtute n Whch the vscosty of a 0 gram hot sample of the product (at about 70 C.) s between about 0 to about 1800 cps, When measured pror to homogensaton, based on settngs of a rpm speed and spndle 6. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the heatng and mxng step s performed at a temperature and a tme suf?cent to produce a cream substtute havng a texture at room temperature between about and about 0 g, mea sured on a Stevens texture analyser usng a cylndrcal spndle at a spndle speed of 1 mm/s and a spndle travel dstance of 10 mm. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the heatng and mxng step s performed at a temperature and a tme suf?cent to produce a cream substtute havng a stablty aganst ol separaton followng smmerng for a tme of about 10 mnutes. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the heatng and mxng step comprses heatng at a temperature of between about C. and about 80 C., for a tme perod of between about 2 and about mnutes, Wth mxng. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the hydrated gums comprse hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the process comprses: hydratng locust bean gum Wth Water or a Water source, hydratng xanthan gum Wth Water or a Water source, mxng the hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum Wth a cheese curd at an elevated temperature to form a mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme sul? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the process comprses: hydratng locust bean gum Wth Water or a Water source, hydratng and combnng xanthan gum Wth the hydrated locust bean gum to form a?rst combnaton, combnng the?rst combnaton Wth powdered cream sub sttute ngredents other than emuls?er to form a second combnaton, mxng the second combnaton Wth cheese curd at an elevated temperature to form a mxture, optonally addng an acdty regulator to the mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme sul? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst 18 The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the pow dered cream substtute ngredents nclude one or more ngre dents selected from the group consstng of: an addtonal gum, a textursng agent, a bulkng agent, salt and preserva tve. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the pow dered cream substtute ngredents comprse an addtonal gum, a textursng agent, a bulkng agent, salt and preserva tve, n Whch each ngredent s of a dfferent dentty, and s addtonal to the locust bean gum and xanthan gum. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the cheese curd comprses quarg and cream cheese curd. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the process comprses: hydratng a?rst gum selected from locust bean gum and xanthan gum Wth Water or a Water source, combnng the hydrated?rst gum Wth a?rst cheese curd component, combnng the hydrated?rst gum and?rst cheese curd combnaton Wth a second gum Whch s the other of the locust bean gum and the xanthan gum, Wheren the sec ond gum s pre-hydrated or s hydrated n stu Wth the optonal addton of Water, mxng the combnaton of hydrated gums and cheese curd Wth () a second cheese curd component and () pow dered ngredents other than emuls?er and acdty regu lator, at an elevated temperature, to form a mxture, optonally addng a dary fat to the mxture; optonally addng an acdty regulator to the mxture, optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature, homogensng the mxture, and heatng the mxture at a temperature and for a tme sul? cent to pasteurse the mxture to form a cream subst The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the?rst cheese curd comprses quarg, and the second cheese curd comprses quarg and cream cheese curd. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren the mxng of the combnaton of hydrated gums and the?rst cheese curd Wth () a second cheese curd component and () powdered ngredents other than emuls?er, s conducted n stages, ncludng a?rst stage n Whch quarg and all of the powdered ngredents other than emuls?er are added and mxed n, and a second stage, n Whch cream cheese curd s added and mxed n. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren dary fat s added to the mxture durng mxng of the second porton of the second cheese component. The process of the fourth embodment, Wheren emuls?er s added as the last ngredent When the mxture s at a tem perature of not less than about C., preferably not less than about C. A food product comprsng the cream substtute of any of the?rst, second, and thrd embodments or a food product comprsng a cream substtute manufactured by the process of the fourth embodment. The followng Examples descrbe and llustrate preferred embodments of the processes and cream substtutes descrbed heren, and foods ncorporatng the cream subst These Examples are ntended to be merely llustratve and not lmtng thereof n ether scope or sprt. Those sklled n the art Wll readly understand that varatons of the mate rals, condtons, and processes descrbed n these examples can be used. Unless otherwse noted, all percentages are percentages by Weght.

13 19 EXAMPLES Durng the development of the desred cream substtutes, a number of technques Were used to assess the propertes of the cream substtutes. Detals of the test procedures are set out below. Brook?eld Vscosty Measurements. Ths test Was used to measure the texture of the hot product (vscosty at about 70 C.). Speedabout rpm, Spndle 6 used and sample of about 0 g. Ideal range about cps (pre-homoge nsed). Stevens Texture Analyser. Frmness Was used to analyse the?nshed product texture. Cylndrcal spndle of the type TA11 (about.4 mm dameter, about mm long). Spndle speed usedabout 1 mm/s. Dstance travelled by spndle about 10 mm. Ideal range about -0 g. Functonalty Tests. The cream substtutes Were tested n varous food compostons, such as pasta but the dsclosure s not lmted to pasta. Ths test Was done nparallel to standard cookng cream for comparson. The cream substtute (about 2 g) and standard cookng cream (about 2 g) Were cooked n separate pans for the same tme perod (about 7-9 mnutes) and at the same heat ntensty (about C.) on a gas stove. Equal quanttes of pasta and cut vegetables Were added (takng up to about 1 mnute to str n) and the?nal food composton Was evaluated for taste,?avour, coatablty, glossness, creamness n mouth, and resdue left n the pan. Preferred Spoonable Texture. The desred spoonable cream substtute s able to be spooned off from the contaner Wthout much resstance, has a clean cut n the contaner, and slps off the spoon on a very gentle shakng back nto the contaner. It does not leave any drppng or talng behnd Whle beng shaken back nto the contaner. Overall Ratng. Ratngs Were conducted on a scale of 1 to 5, Wth 1 beng the best lked and 5 beng the least lked. Ths s determned consderng all the sensory and functonal attrbutes of the product. Shelf Lfe. The shelf lfe of the cream substtute product Was determned to be the span of tme durng Whch the product, stored n refrgerated (about 1-4 C.) storage, s mcrobologcally stable and meets sensory and functonalty expectatons. The products Were tested monthly for Standard Plate Count (SPC) and for Yeast & Mould (Y & M) growth to evaluate mcrobologcal stablty durng the shelf lfe evaluaton. Standard Australan test methods AS and AS Were used for SPC andy & M respectvely. Sensory evaluaton Was conducted by a panel of four expe renced and traned sensory evaluators. A pro?lng method Wth a 9-pont ntensty scale Was used to evaluate selected organoleptc characterstcs. Panelsts Were traned for these attrbutes usng anchors for selected attrbutes. The reference pont Was marked for each attrbute at the start of the sensory evaluaton and subsequent monthly evaluatons Were carred to assess any change aganst that reference pont on the nne pont ntensty scale. All attrbutes Were dscussed at the end of each sesson and consensus scores Were used to determne any changes aganst that reference. Evaluaton Was done monthly. For the functonalty evaluaton, products ncludng stan dard regular and lght cookng creams Were cooked followng the recpe and methodology descrbed n the functonalty tests above. Products Were evaluated for key attrbutes by a degree of dfference test aganst standard cookng creams. Agan, a 9-pont scale Wth a reference (cream) n the mddle and scores of :4 on ether sde of the scale Were used to determne f a partcular attrbute Was less or more than the reference. Evaluaton Was done monthly and products Were tasted by up to 10 evaluators. Example 1 Regular Cream Substtute In ths Example, cream substtutes Were prepared n an attempt to produce a regular cream substtute based on a cheese curd component, and havng the consstency of thck cream, Whch s spoonable. The product Was also desred to have stablty at elevated cookng temperatures Wth a shelf lfe of at least about 180 days. Samples 1 to 5 outlne?ve of the thrty combnatons of ngredents tested. Other stablsers tested ether ndvdually or n combnaton of those descrbed n Samples 1 to 5 nclude guar gum, gellan gum, algnate and dfferent starches amongst others. Extensve desgn of the experment Was conducted to evaluate the effect of dfferent stablsers, dfferent amounts of stablsers, and combnatons of dfferent stablsers to optmse the?nal product. In the preparaton of all samples, the Water used for hydra ton Was heated at about C. Ths ensured proper hydraton and dsperson of stablsers and proten powders. The mxng tank Was?tted Wth a hgh shear devce. Other shear devces such as pumps or tanks can also be used. Hgh shear ensured proper mxng and hydraton of stablsers, powders and other ngredents. In Sample 1, locust bean gum Was hydrated for about 10 mnutes. Cultured skm mlk slurry Was then added to the mx. Ths Was followed by the addton of carrageenan to the mx, and then the slurry Was mxed for about another 5 mnutes. The cultured skm mlk slurry Was added pror to the addton of carrageenan to provde extra mosture for hydraton of the gums. All the remanng ngredents (skm mlk powder, Whey proten concentrate, salt, starch, gelatne, ctrc acd and sorbc acd) Were added after ths step. Cream Wth about 42% fat Was then added at about 70 C., followed by cream cheese curd at about 78 C. The mx Was unformly blended and heated untl the composte temperature reached about C. An emuls?er Was then added and the product Was pasteursed at about 76 C. The mosture and ph can be adjusted f requred at ths stage. Fnshed product target ph Was about 4.+/ 0.15 and mosture about 66.2+/ 1.5 for all products n Example 1. The mx Was then homogensed (two stage homogensaton, about 100/) at about 1-0 bar to acheve the desred smooth, creamy, glossy texture and to facltate better actvaton of the stablser system. The prod uct Was then packed nto sutable contaners. In Sample 2, the base formulaton Was mod?ed to nclude Quarg and xanthan gum, and other ngredents Were adjusted accordngly. Locust bean gum Was hydrated for about 10 mnutes (usng about % of the total Water used n the experment). Ths Was followed by the addton of remanng Water and about % quarg pror to the addton of xanthan gum. Quarg provded the extra mosture for hydraton of the gums. The slurry Was mxed for about another 5 mnutes pror to the addton of the remanng quarg and all other ngred ents (skm mlk powder, salt, starch, sodum carboxyl methyl cellulose, ctrc acd and sorbc acd). Cream Wth about 42% fat Was then added at about 70 C., followed by cream cheese curd at about 78 C. The mx Was unformly blended and heated untl the composte temperature reached about C. An emuls?er Was then added and the product Was pasteursed at about 76 C. The mosture and ph can be adjusted f requred at ths stage. The mx Was then homogensed at about 1-0 bar to acheve the desred smooth, creamy, glossy

14 21 texture and to facltate better actvaton of the stablser sys tem. The homogensaton Was two stage homogensaton. The product Was then packed nto sutable contaners. In Sample 3, the same formulaton and processng cond tons Were used as n Sample 2 except that about 0.15% 5 gelatne Was used. In Sample 4, a smlar base formulaton and processng condtons Were used as n Sample 2 except that about % locust bean gum and a combnaton of about 0.029% of each 22 the pan lke standard cookng cream. Sample 5 Was the best combnaton of stablsers that provded an optmal product that delvered aganst all expectatons. Sample 5 had overall ratng score of 1 Whch Was based on a combnaton of results from the sensory and functonalty evaluaton. TABLE 1 Samples for regular cream substtutes of carrageenan and xanthan gum Was used. They Were added 10 one after the other at the second step after about 10 mnutes Ingredent, sglnple NO_ hydraton of locust bean gum. Mod?ed starch Was also excluded from ths formulaton and maltodextrn Was Wt % ncluded to act as a?ller nstead of mod?ed starch. Sample 5 s the most optmsed formulaton, and Was 15 Locust bun arrved at after expermentng Wth dfferent stablsers and m Wth the levels of stablsers used. The processng condtons gu Were the same as n Samples 2 to 4. Locust bean gum (about Carmgwnan 0' %) and xanthan gum (about %) Were used. An xanthan gum 0 0'03 0'03 0'029 0'0238 amount of gelatne Was also optmsed to about 0.1%. Skm Wat mlk powder Was excluded and maltodextrn Was used as a Cultured Skm ?ller. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and Panodan Were mlk Sluny used at about 0.15% levels. The?nshed product targets for Skm mlk ths product Were as follows: powder Whey proten concentrate Mostm Fat Salt PH Salt Ctrc acd Regular dollop 66.2 r 1.5% % 0.75 r r 0.15 Edble gamng Sorbc acd Table 2 descrbes the results of these samples. Sample 1 Mod?ed Starch 0_7 0_7 0_7 0 0_7 Was a reasonable product but requred optmsaton n terms Crwn of?avour, cookng and spoonablty. Sample 2 Was a sgn?- curd cant mprovement on Sample 1 n terms of?avour and cook Cream (42%) mg performance but requred further opt1m1sat1on for spoon ablty. In Sample 3, the addton of gelatne mproved the Quarg 0 21'0 21'0 21'0 22'0 spoonablty by mnmsng the talng/drppng and provd- Maltodexmn '7 1'6 ng a clean cut Whle spoonng out of the contaner. Sample 4 CMC demonstrated the mportance of mod?ed starch durng the Emuls??r cookng. Whle cookng, Sample 4 dd not clng to and coat the pasta and vegetables and, nstead, pooled to the bottom of TABLE 2 Results for regular cream substtutes Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Overall preference scale Cookng* Product When added Ths Was an Ths sample Was very Very runny at the Nce product. Good to the pan showed sgns ofseparaton, mprovement to?avor, taste and smlar to Sample 2. Clngable coverage of start; no thckenng or poolng at the bottom thckenng, and good coatng of the pasta Whch dsspated coatablty over the pasta and of the plate. Sauce dd and vegetables. Very When heated. Had too Sample 1. Good vegetables. Was not clng Well and creamy and glossy ntense a fatty?avor coatablty of the pasta ntally a thcker tended to pull away appearance. and taste. Coatablty and vegetables. Very sauce; t took longer from the pasta lke an Taste and?avour and gloss Were better creamy, rch, luscous than Sample 2 to thn ol n Water emulson. Were best compared to than standard cream. lookng sauce down n cookng. other samples Lttle resdue left n compared Wth pan after servng on plate. standard cream. No separaton/splttng durng cookng, and no resdue left n pan after servng.

15 TABLE 2-contnued Results for regllar cream substtutes Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Spoonablty Easy spoonablty but Easy to spoon, but Nce, short texture, Easy to spoon, but Nce clean spoonable assessment soft body; not a long texture and clean cut and release. long texture and slght texture wthout much preferred spoonable drppng/talng off drppng/talng off resstance whle beng texture. the spoon. the spoon. spooned from the contaner, and short texture wth no talng or drppng. Brook?eld value Stevens value *The cookng evaluaton was always done n comparson to standard regular cookng cream. The cream and expermental products were cooked followng the procedure descrbed n the test methods. The cookng cream evaluaton always ndcated that cream dd not thcken up sgn?cantly over the prescrbed cookng tme and was vsbly runny. The coatng slpped offthe pasta and tended to pool at the bottom ofthe plate. There was always resdual cream left n the pan. Though the cream dd not thcken to the extent of the expermental product even after heatng t for extra tme. If t was subjected to addtonal heatng, t showed sgns of olng off and curdlng after a certan tme. Ths extra heatng tme also ncreases the cookng tme for the food composton. The?nal food composton (pasta and vegetables) also had nferor mouthcoat and Example 2 Lght Cream Substtutes Ths Example sets out the detals of test compostons that were prepared n an attempt to produce a lght cream subst tute based on a cheese curd component, and havng the con sstency of spoonable cream. The product was also desred to have stablty at elevated cookng temperatures wth a shelf lfe of at least about 180 days. Samples 6 to 9 outlne four of more than forty combnatons of ngredents tested. Other stablsers tested ether ndvdually or n combnaton of those descrbed n Samples 6 to 9 nclude gellan gum, algnate and dfferent starches amongst others. The experment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dfferent stablsers, df ferent amounts of stablsers, and combnatons of dfferent stablsers to eventually optmse the?nal product. Even though most factors n terms of the functonalty of dfferent stablsers tested were applcable to both the regular and lght cream substtutes, a unque combnaton was requred for the lght cream substtute due to compostonal dfferences (e.g., dfferences n levels of fat, mosture, etc.) versus the regular cream subst 1n Sample 6, locust bean gum was hydrated for about 10 mnutes (usng about % of the total water used n the experment). Ths was followed by the addton of the reman ng water and about % quarg pror to addton of guar gum. Quarg provded the extra mosture for hydraton of the gums. The slurry was mxed for about another 5 mnutes pror to addton of the remanng quarg and all other ngredents (skm mlk powder, salt, starch, gelatne, trsodum phos phate, sorbc acd). Cream cheese curd was then added at about 78 C. The mx was unformly blended and heated untl the composte temperature reached about C. An emuls?er was added at ths stage and the product was pasteursed at about 76 C. The mosture and ph can be adjusted f requred at ths stage. The target mosture content for all of Example 2 was about 66.2+/ 1.5 and ph target about 4.+/ The mx was then homogensed at about 1-0 bar to acheve the desred smooth, creamy, glossy texture and to facltate better actvaton of the stablser system. The homo gensaton was two stage homogensaton. The product was then packed nto sutable contaners. 1n Sample 7, a smlar process as Sample 6 was followed except for the excluson of guar gum and skm mlk powder and the ncluson of carrageenan and maltodetxrn. Locust bean gum was hydrated for about 10 mnutes (usng about % of the total water used n the experment). Ths was followed by the addton of carrageenan wth addtonal water (about % of the total water used for ths experment). The slurry was mxed for about another 5 mnutes pror to the addton of the remanng water, quarg and all other ngred ents (salt, starch, gelatne, trsodum phosphate, sorbc acd, maltodextrn). Cream cheese curd was then added at about 78 C. The mx was unformly blended and heated untl the composte temperature reached about C. An emuls?er was added at ths stage and the product was pasteursed at about 76 C. The mosture and ph can be adjusted f requred at ths stage. The mx was then homogensed at about 1-0 bar to acheve desred smooth, creamy, glossy texture and to facltate better actvaton of stablser system. The homoge nsaton was two stage homo gensaton. The product was then packed nto sutable contaners. In Sample 8, smlar processng condtons as Sample 7 were used. The formulaton was mod?ed n that carrageenan was removed and xanthan gum at about 0.019% was used. Sample 9 used the same processng condtons as Sample 8 except that CMC at about 0.15% was ncluded n the exper ment. The?nshed product targets for Sample 9 were as follows: Mosture Fat Salt ph Lght dollop 72.2 r 1.5% 12.1 r 1.5% 0.75 r r 0.15 Table 4 descrbes the results of these samples. Sample 6 was too thck and was not evaluated further after ntal ana lytcal results from Brook?eld and Stevens ndcated the for mulaton was unacceptable. Sample 7 was an mprovement but stll ddnot have a desrable spoonable texture. Sgn?cant work was requred for optmsaton n terms of?avour, cook ng and spoonablty. Sample 8 was close to a desred product but lacked the sensory characterstcs of an optmal product. The taste and?avour lacked creamy rchness and had weak after taste and poor mouthcoatng. Cookng performance was acceptable, and was better than standard lght cookng creams n terms of coatablty, glossness and resdue left n the pan after transferrng the pasta onto a plate. Sample 9 was the best combnaton of stablsers that provded an optmal product that delvered aganst all the expectatons. Sample 9 had overall ratng score of 1 whch was based on combnaton of results from sensory and functonalty evaluaton.

16 TABLE 3 Samples for lght cream substtutes 26 TABLE 5-contnued Sensorv attrbutes Ingredent, Wt % Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8 Sample 9 Attrbute Attrbute score 1 Attrbute score 9 Locust bean gum Overall Aroma Weak Strong Carrageenan Texture-Ease of spoonablty Easy Df?cult Xanthan gum Texture-Release from spoon Easy Df?cult Guar gum Flavor-Cream Weak Strong Water Flavor-Salt Weak Strong Skm mlk powder Flavor-Cultured/ Sour Weak Strong Salt Overall?avor strength Very Mld Strong Ctrc acd Foregn/off?avor None Strong Trsodum phosphate Texture n mouth-smooth Very smooth Powdery Edble gelatne Mouthcoat Slght A lot Sorbc acd Aftertaste Weak Strong Mod?ed starch Cream cheese curd Quarg Sensory evaluaton was conducted monthly for attrbutes é?gdexmn 8 3'96 3'24 3%: lsted n Table 5 for the 180 day shelf lfe perod. Emuls??r :114 Sensory evaluaton results for both the regular and lght cream substtutes ndcated no sgn?cant declne n the attrbutes tested. There was a slght declne n the overall TABLE 4 Results for lght cream sub tmte Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8 Sample 9 Overall preference scale Cookng* No cookng tests were done Thck product, requred Ths was an mprovement on Nce product. Good as ths sample was deemed extensve strrng durng the the prevous samples. Good thckenng, and good coatng unacceptable. ntal stages of heatng. coatablty and gloss to the of the pasta and vegetables. Coatablty was reasonable pasta and vegetables but ths Very creamy and glossy but appearance wse not very sample lacked a creamy, appearance. glossy. lngerng after-taste and Taste and?avour were best mouthcoat. No compared to other samples. separaton/splttng durng cookng and not much resdue left n pan after servng. Spoonablty Product was too?rm to be Frm product; df?cult to be Easy to spoon off but had Good spoonablty and assessment spooned out easly and dd spooned out and released soft and runny body. release offthe spoon. Had not release from the spoon. from the spoon. the desred short texture wth no talng or drppng. Brook?eld value Stevens value *The cookng evaluaton was always done n comparson to standard lght cookng cream. The cream and expermental products were cooked followng the procedure descrbed n the test methods. The cookng cream evaluaton always ndcated that the cream dd not thcken up sgn?cantly over the prescrbed cookng tme and was vsbly runny. The coatng slpped offthe pasta and tended to pool at the bottom ofthe plate. There was always resdual cream left n the pan. Though the cream dd not thcken to extent ofthe expermental product even alter heatng t for extra tme, ft was subjected to addtonal heatng, t showed sgns ofolng off and curdlng alter a certan tme. Ths extra heatng tme also ncreases the cookng tme for the food composton. The?nal food composton (pasta and vegetables) also had nferor mouthcoat and?avor. Evaluaton of the shelf lfe of the samples was carred out to evaluate the performance of the?nal samples for both the regular and lght cream substtutes for mcrobologcal stabl ty, sensory and functonalty perspectve durng the 180 day perod. Results from Standard Plate Count (SPC) and Yeast & Mould (Y & M) tests ndcated that the cream substtutes were mcrobologcally stable durng and at the end of the 180 day shelf lfe perod. The results for SPC andy & M at end of the 180 day shelf lfe perod were wthn the acceptable lmts for dary products. TABLE 5 Sensory attrbutes Attrbute Attrbute score 1 Attrbute score 9 Surface sheen/gloss Dull Shny Evdence of synerss None A lot (teaspoon) aroma, a decrease n the ease of spoonablty and release from the spoon, and a declne n the cultured/ sour?avour towards the end of the sxth month for the regular cream substtute but changes were wthn acceptable tolerance of :2 from the startng score. Smlar changes were also notced n lght cream substtute n addton to an ncrease n the most appearance, but agan, changes were wthn the acceptable tolerance of :2 from the startng score. Both the regular and lght cream substtutes were deemed acceptable by the panel of four traned sensory evaluators. Functonalty evaluaton was done by comparng cookng performance of the regular and lght cream substtutes aganst standard regular and lght cookng creams. The attrbutes evaluated are lsted n Table 6. The regular and lght cream substtutes were consstently superor to the standard regular and lght cookng creams. In partcular, the regular and lght cream substtutes dd not show any sgns of separaton, cur dlng or olng off durng cookng, as compared to the stan dard regular and lght cookng creams. The regular and lght

17 27 cream substtutes easly combned Wth pasta and vegetables and adhered to the pasta and vegetables compared to the standard creams, Whch tended to run off the food beng cooked. The regular and lght cream substtutes also un formly coated the pasta and vegetables due to ther thck creamy texture as compared to the standard creams. There Was no or very lttle resdue left at the bottom of the pan after the cream substtutes Were transferred from the pan to a servng plate as compared to the sgn?cant amount of resdue left When cookng Wth the standard creams. The standard creams also tended to pool at the bottom of the plate after servng. The cream substtutes gave a rch creamy glossy appearance to pasta and vegetables as compared to the stan dard creams. All product evaluators preferred the pasta and vegetables cooked n the cream substtutes due to ther glossy appearance, the rch and creamy mouthfeel, and better?avour pro?le. TABLE 6 Functonalty evaluaton Attrbutes tested Separaton durng cookng SplttngCurdlng Olng off Coatablty Combnaton Wth ngredents Poolng to bottom and/or resdue left Appearance-gloss Example 3 Commercal Manufacture of the Products of Samples 5 ( Regular Dollop ) and 9 ( Lght Dollop ) FIGS. 1 and 2 llustrate the processes for producng the desred products of two preferred embodments, havng the same percentage amounts of ngredents of Samples 5 ( regu lar dollop ) and 9 ( lght dollop ), scaled up to commercal quanttes. FIG. 1 llustrates the process for preparng the regular dollop product, and FIG. 2 the lght dollop product. As llustrated n FIG. 1, gum (spec?cally the locust bean gum) and about half of the Water at around about C. are mxed n mxng stage (1) n an nstantser for a tme perod of about 10 mnutes, Wth the cutter and agtaton on. In mxng stage (2) about % of the quarg and the remanng Warm Water are added and mxed n for about 2 mnutes. In mxng stage (3) the second gum (spec?cally the xanthan gum) s added and mxed for about 5 mnutes. In mxng stage (4), the remanng quarg and the powdered ngredents other than the emuls?er are added, beng the CMC, gelatne, maltodextrn, salt, etc. Mxng contnues for about 5 mnutes n ths stage. In mxng stage (5), the cream cheese and cream are added and mxed over a tme perod of about 10 mnutes. The cream cheese s added at about 70 C., and mxng contnues Wth agtaton. Any acdty regulator requred, such as ctrc acd, s added after cream cheese addton s complete for ph adjust ment. In mxng stage (6) the emuls?er s added once the temperature n the nstantser s above about 6 C. and mx ng contnues for about 2 mnutes. In stage (7) standardsaton s performed to adjust to the chemcal targets, takng up to about mnutes. Any remanng Water can be added f requred. In stage (8) the product s pasteursed, for example, by heatng to about 76 C. and holdng at ths temperature for about 2 mnutes. In stage (9) the product s homogensed over about a second tme perod. The product may then be held 28 n a holdng step (10) for any requred tme perod, and then the product s?lled nto contaners n?llng step (11). In FIG. 2, gum (spec?cally the locust bean gum) and about % of the Water at around about 6 C. are mxed n mxng stage (1) n an nstantser for a tme perod of about 10 mn utes, Wth the cutter and agtaton on. In mxng stage (2) about 37.5% of the Warm Water and the second gum (spec? cally the xanthan gum) are added and mxed n for about 5 mnutes. In mxng stage (3) the remanng Warm Water and powdered ngredents (other than acdty regulator and emul s?er) are added, ncludng the CMC, gelatne, maltodextrn, salt, sorbc acd etc. Mxng contnues for about 5 mnutes n ths stage. In mxng stage (4), some of the cream cheese and all of the quarg s added and mxed n, Wth heatng and agtaton. The mxng takes place over about 10 mnutes. In mxng stage (5), the remanng cream cheese s added at about 700 C. Wth agtaton, over about 10 mnutes. Any acdty regulator requred, such as trsodum phosphate, s added after cream cheese addton s complete for ph adjust ment. In mxng stage (6) the emuls?er s added once the temperature n the nstantser s above about 6 C., and mxng contnues for about 2 mnutes. In stage (7) standard saton s performed to adjust to the chemcal targets, takng up to about mnutes. Any remanng Water can be added f requred. In stage (8) the product s pasteursed, for example, by heatng to about 7 C. and holdng at ths temperature for about 2 mnutes. In stage (9) the product s homogensed over about a second tme perod. The product may then be held n a holdng step (10) for any requred tme perod, and then the product s?lled nto contaners n?llng step (11). The regular dollop and lght dollop products Wthstand smmerng at about 85-9 C. for about mnutes or more. These products also have the texture of thck cream, fall n a dollop from a spoon and have a vscosty and texture Wthn the preferred lmts n the test procedures descrbed above. It Wll be understood to persons sklled n the art that many mod?catons may be made Wthout departng from the sprt and scope as set forth n the spec?caton and clams. What s clamed s: 1. A cream substtute comprsng: about to about % by Weght cheese curd, a Water source n an amount effectve to provde a total mosture content of about to 78%, about 0.2% to about 1.5% starch by Weght of the cream substtute; and about 0.0% to about 0.28% of a combnaton of hydrated gums, the cheese curd, Water source, starch, and hydrated gums ncluded n amounts effectve to provde the cream substtute the texture of a thck cream havng a?rmness value between about g and about 0 g, measured at C. on a Stevens texture analyzer usng a cylndrcal spndle TAll at a spndle speed of 1 mm/ s and a spndle travel dstance of 10 mm. 2. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the vscosty of a 0 gram hot sample of the product at 700 C. s between about 0 to about 1800 cps, When measured pror to homog enzaton durng manufacture, based on settngs of a rpm speed and spndle The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the combna ton of gums comprses locust bean gum and xanthan gum. 4. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the cheese curd s selected from one or more of cream cheese, cottage cheese, quarg and soft Whte cheese. 5. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the cream substtute comprses between about 5% and about % cream cheese, and between about 5% and about % quarg.

18 29 6. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the cream substtute has a fat content between about 18% to about 28%. 7. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the cream substtute has a proten content of about 2.0 to about 6%. 8. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the combna ton of hydrated gums comprses about 0.05% to about 0.2% locust bean gum. 9. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the combna ton of hydrated gums comprses about 0.005% to about 0.08% xanthan gum. 10. The cream substtute of clam 1, Wheren the combna ton of hydrated gums comprses locust bean gum and xan than gum at a rato of about 75: to about 85: A cream substtute comprsng: a cheese curd n an amount of about to about % by Weght, a Water source n an amount effectve to provde a total mosture content of about to 78%, about 0.05% to about 0.2% hydrated locust bean gum, about to about 0.08% hydrated xanthan gum, and about 0.2 to about 1.5 percent starch by Weght of the cream substtute, the cream substtute havng a?rmness value between about g and about 0 g, measured at 5 C. on a Stevens texture analyzer usng a cylndrcal spndle TA11 at a spndle speed of 1 mm/s and a spndle travel dstance of 10 mm. 12. A process for the manufacture of a cream substtute, comprsng: combnng about to about % cheese curd, a Water source n an amount effectve to provde a total mosture content of about to 78%, about 0.2% to about 1.5% starch, and about 0. 0% to about 0.28% hydrated gums to form a mxture, homogenzng the mxture, and heatng the homogenzed mxture at a temperature and for a tme su?cent to pasteurze the mxture to form a cream substtute havng a?rmness value between about g and about 0 g, measured at 5 C. on a Stevens texture analyzer usng a cylndrcal spndle TA11 at a spndle speed of 1 mm/ s and a spndle travel dstance of 10 mm. 13. The process of clam 12, Wheren the combnng step comprses heatng at an elevated temperature of between about C. and about 80 C., for a tme perod of between about 2 and about mnutes, and mxng. 14. The process of clam 13, Wheren the hydrated gums comprse hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum, and Wheren the combnng step comprses: hydratng the locust bean gum Wth Water or the Water source, hydratng and combnng the xanthan gum Wth the hydrated locust bean gum to form a?rst combnaton, combnng the?rst combnaton Wth at least one powdered cream substtute ngredent selected from the group con sstng of gum, texturzng agent, bulkng agent, salt, and preservatve to form a second combnaton, mxng the second combnaton Wth cheese curd at the elevated temperature to form the mxture, and optonally addng an acdty regulator to the mxture. 15. The process of clam 12, Wheren the hydrated gums comprse hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum. 16. The process of clam 15, Wheren the combnng step comprses: hydratng the locust bean gum Wth Water or the Water source, hydratng the xanthan gum Wth Water or the Water source, mxng the hydrated locust bean gum and hydrated xanthan gum Wth the cheese curd at an elevated temperature to form the mxture, and optonally addng an emuls?er to the mxture at an elevated temperature. 17. The process of clam 12, Wheren the cheese curd comprses a?rst cheese curd component and a second cheese curd component, and Wheren the combnng step comprses: hydratng a?rst gum selected from locust bean gum and xanthan gum Wth Water or the Water source, combnng the hydrated?rst gum Wth a?rst cheese curd component, combnng the hydrated?rst gum and?rst cheese curd combnaton Wth a second gum Whch s the other of the locust bean gum and the xanthan gum, Wheren the sec ond gum s pre-hydrated or s hydrated n stu Wth the optonal addton of Water, and mxng the combnaton of hydrated gums and cheese curd Wth () a second cheese curd component and () pow dered ngredents other than emuls?er and acdty regu lator, at an elevated temperature, to form the mxture. 18. The process of clam 17, Wheren the method further comprses addng a dary fat to the mxture. 19. The process of clam 17, Wheren the method further comprses addng an acdty regulator to the mxture.. The process of clam 17, Wheren the method further comprses addng an emuls?er to the mxture. * * * * *