Abstract: An improved snack food product in the form of resilient, molded, self-sustaining bodies preferably made from a heated mixture comprising a dairy product (cheese, yogurt or pudding), gelatin, fat and water. The product bodies are small and bite sized, having a mass to surface area ratio of from about 0.05-5 g/cm2, which facilitates molding thereof. Preferred food products are prepared by first creating a heated flowable mixture of including cheese, gelatin, fat and water, and depositing small quantities of the mixture into molding depressions formed in powdered starch; after hardening, the resultant products are separated from the starch and packaged.

Abstract: An improved snack food product in the form of resilient, molded, self-sustaining bodies preferably made from a heated mixture comprising a dairy product (cheese, yogurt or pudding), gelatin, fat and water. The product bodies are small and bite sized, having a mass to surface area ratio of from about 0.05-5 g/cm2, which facilitates molding thereof. Preferred food products are prepared by first creating a heated flowable mixture of including cheese, gelatin, fat and water, and depositing small quantities of the mixture into molding depressions formed in powdered starch or a resilient rubber mold; after hardening, the resultant products are separated from the starch or rubber mold and packaged.

Abstract: An improved snack food product in the form of resilient, molded, self-sustaining bodies preferably made from a heated mixture comprising a dairy product (cheese, yogurt or pudding), gelatin, fat and water. The product bodies are small and bite sized, having a mass to surface area ratio of from about 0.05-5 g/cm2, which facilitates molding thereof. Preferred food products are prepared by first creating a heated flowable mixture of including cheese, gelatin, fat and water, and depositing small quantities of the mixture into molding depressions formed in powdered starch or a resilient rubber mold; after hardening, the resultant products are separated from the starch or rubber mold and packaged.

Abstract: An improved snack food product in the form of resilient, molded, self-sustaining bodies preferably made from a heated mixture comprising a dairy product (cheese, yogurt or pudding), gelatin, fat and water. The product bodies are small and bite sized, having a mass to surface area ratio of from about 0.05-5 g/cm2, which facilitates molding thereof. Preferred food products are prepared by first creating a heated flowable mixture of including cheese, gelatin, fat and water, and depositing small quantities of the mixture into molding depressions formed in powdered starch; after hardening, the resultant products are separated from the starch and packaged.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a non-fat natural cheese which is made from a first liquid non-fat milk solids substrate which is made into cheese by various known methods. In the method for making the substrate, a non-fat milk solids source, such as skim milk, is acidified to a pH below the isoelectric point. A blend of the acidified non-fat milk solids source and gum is then prepared. The blend is then subjected to high pressure homogenization to provide a dispersion of the gum in the casein of the non-fat milk solids source. Alternatively, the gum may be dispersed in water and be subjected to high pressure homogenization prior to blending the gum with the acidified skim milk. In this embodiment, only mild low shear mixing is required to provide a dispersion of the gum in the casein of the non-fat milk solids source. The casein/gum dispersion is then combined with a second non-fat milk solids source to provide a non-fat milk solids substrate.