Abstract: The invention relates to cheese and cheese-like products comprising about 0.2 to about 6% by weight ?s-casein, ?-casein, or a combination thereof, at least about 5% by weight of one or more hydrocolloids comprising one or more starches, and wherein the cheese or cheese-like product has one or more characteristics of a dairy product, such as flavour, taste, aroma, body, appearance, texture, firmness, handling, density, structure, coagulation, binding, leavening, aeration, foaming, emulsification, elasticity, viscoelasticity, melt, creaminess and mouthfeel.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for preparing processed cheese without emulsifying salts, comprising: (a) providing a dairy liquid composition or a gelled dairy composition or both, comprising casein, at least part of which has a proportion of its divalent ions, including calcium ions, replaced with sodium or potassium ions; (b) cooking the composition or the combination of compositions to obtain an emulsion, and (c) cooling the cooked composition to obtain a processed cheese; wherein a substantially insoluble calcium source is mixed with at least one of the compositions at any time before the processed cheese forms in step (c).