Methods for treating a divided cheese product and compositions thereof

1. An anticaking agent for cheese, comprising:

46-70 wt. % one or more dairy ingredients chosen from milk permeate powder, whey permeate powder, dried whey, and combinations thereof; and

30-64 wt. % one or more non-dairy ingredient chosen from cellulose, sugarcane fiber, calcium sulfate, calcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, silicon dioxide, starch, dextrose monohydrate, glucose oxidase, natamycin, potassium sorbate, mineral oil, high oleic sunflower oil, and combinations thereof; and

wherein the anticaking agent when applied at a loading of between 3 wt. % and 5 wt. % relative to divided cheddar cheese, has little to no visibility on the divided cheddar cheese, prevents caking of the divided cheddar cheese, and browns similarly to the divided cheddar cheese without the anticaking agent when baked in an impinger oven at between 425° F. and 450° F. for 5 minutes.

2. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , wherein the dairy ingredient is milk permeate powder.

3. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , wherein the dairy ingredient is whey permeate powder.

4. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , wherein the dairy ingredient is dried whey comprising 60-65 wt. % of the anticaking agent.

5. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 2-15 wt. % calcium sulfate.

6. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 9.5-40 wt. % cellulose.

7. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising starch.

8. The anticaking agent of claim 7 , wherein the starch is corn starch or potato starch.

9. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 25-30.2 wt. % sugarcane fiber.

10. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 9.7-20 wt. % dextrose and 0.04-0.05 wt. % glucose oxidase.

11. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 0.06-0.08 wt. % natamycin.

12. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 10 wt. % potassium sorbate.

13. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 0.02-1.5 wt. % silicon dioxide.

14. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , comprising 0.01-5 wt. % mineral oil.

15. The anticaking agent of claim 1 , wherein caking of the divided cheese is prevented after storage for two weeks.

16. An anticaking agent chosen from

a first composition comprising 20.5 wt. % whey permeate powder, 79 wt. % potato starch, 0.1 wt. % silicon dioxide, and 0.4 wt. % mineral oil;

a second composition comprising 48 wt. % whey permeate powder, 2 wt. % calcium sulfate, 48 wt. % corn starch, and 2 wt. % tricalcium phosphate;

a third composition comprising 68.8 wt. % whey permeate powder, 30.1 wt. % sugarcane fiber, 0.12 wt. % silicon dioxide, and 1 wt. % mineral oil;

a fourth composition comprising 28.5 wt. % whey permeate powder, 2 wt. % calcium sulfate, 67.5 wt. % potato starch, 0.35 wt. % silicon dioxide, and 1.75 wt. % mineral oil; or

a fifth composition comprising 21.9 wt. % whey permeate powder, 2 wt. % calcium sulfate, 60 wt. % potato starch, 4.6 wt. % high oleic sunflower oil, 10 wt. % dextrose, 0.05 wt. % glucose oxidase, 0.04 wt. % natamycin, and 1.5 wt. % silicon dioxide;

wherein the anticaking agent when applied at a loading of between 3 wt. % and 5 wt. % relative to divided cheddar cheese has little to no visibility on the divided cheddar cheese, prevents caking of the divided cheddar cheese, and browns similarly to divided cheddar cheese without the anticaking agent when baked in an impinger oven at between 425° F. and 450° F. for 5 minutes.

17. A food product comprising:

a. divided cheese comprising a plurality of individual cheese particles; and

b. an anticaking agent of claim 1 dispersed on the individual cheese particles in an amount sufficient to inhibit caking of the individual cheese particles.

18. The food product of claim 17 , wherein said anticaking agent is applied at between 1 wt. % and 6 wt. % of the divided cheese.

19. A method of treating divided cheese for anticaking, comprising:

dispersing the anticaking agent of claim 1 over a divided cheese;

wherein the anticaking agent has little to no visibility on the divided cheese, prevents caking of the divided cheese, and browns similarly to divided cheese without the anticaking agent when baked in an impinger over at between 425° F. and 450° F. for 5 minutes.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein said anticaking agent is applied at between 1 wt. % and 6 wt. % of the divided cheese.

21. The food product of claim 17 , wherein the amount sufficient is between 3 wt. % and 5 wt. % relative to the divided cheese.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the anticaking agent is applied at between 3 wt. % and 5 wt. % of the divided cheese.