Cheese powder is made from real cheese. The cheese, often cheddar, is shredded and melted with water and emulsifying salts such as sodium phosphates into a smooth slurry, which is then spray-dried into a fine, free-flowing powder. Some powders also contain whey, milk solids or salt. Drying keeps the cheese stable at room temperature for months.
Because it is concentrated, a little cheese powder gives a strong savoury, salty and slightly tangy flavour. It blends into doughs and creams and disperses in fat-based coatings, so it suits sweet and savoury snacks alike: cheese-cream biscuit sticks, cheesy popcorn coatings and biscuit fillings.
Cheese powder comes from milk, a major allergen. On SeekSnack it is used in Toro - Cara Cheese, a caramel and cheese popcorn, and in Koala’s March White Milk.
