What is a curd product and how does it differ from curd?

Delicate curd with cream and berries, delicious glazed curd under a layer of chocolate, creamy curd with dried fruits - all these products look much more attractive than curds known to everyone. But how useful such products will be.

Cottage cheese products are a fairly wide range of products, based on milk and fats. It would seem that the same components in combination with fermented milk sourdough are used to make cottage cheese.

However, fats in the curd product are not of animal origin (as in curd), but of vegetable origin. The permissible percentage of the latter, according to the regulations, can reach 50%. However, sometimes unscrupulous manufacturers completely abandon animal fats in favor of vegetable.

Curd product, as a rule, consists of powdered milk, in addition, it is possible to find in it a number of ingredients “alien” to natural curd. In the first place - it is preservatives, flavors, stabilizers. All that in the composition begins with the letter "E" and sounds like "a substitute identical to the natural."

If in the manufacture of cottage cheese it is necessary to strictly observe the volume of added fermented milk bacteria, then in the manufacture of cottage cheese analogue, this is done at the discretion of the manufacturer. As a rule, their number is negligible, since with a large amount of this microflora the shelf life of the product is significantly reduced.

Another way to extend the “days of life” of cheese products is to subject them to temperature effects up to + 60С. Naturally, some of the useful components are destroyed. At the same time, if we are talking about a high-quality curd product, it can be additionally enriched with vitamins and minerals, which significantly increases its value for the human body.

After analyzing the characteristics of the composition and methods of production, we can conclude that the curd product in its favor is much inferior to the curd. Consider whether the first has at least some benefit to the body.

It is worth noting that it contains easily digestible proteins, and (if indicated in the composition, of course) is enriched with vitamins A, C, D and group B. They have a positive effect on the nervous system, organs of sight, are antioxidants. Of course, their content is so low that even with a slight deficiency of a certain vitamin in the body, eating the cheesy products of the situation will not change.

High-quality curds are additionally enriched with microelements - primarily with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium. It is also useful for the heart and blood vessels, the brain.

The main advantage of a good cottage cheese on a vegetable basis can be called high calorie. He will save when you need to quickly raise blood sugar levels (for example, the person became ill, dizzy). With prolonged mental work, insulin levels also decrease, so a sweet snack will help to quickly “reboot”.

However, you cannot abuse the high-calorie curd products, because after a sharp jump in insulin, they provoke the same rapid fall. The body requires a new portion. With irreducible consumption, you risk quickly gaining extra pounds and significantly "grow" the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Such products rich in fats and carbohydrates provide a person with energy, because, as is known, its greatest amount is released during the breakdown of fats. But the amount of protein in the curd product is 2 times less than in the natural sour-milk analogue. And if the latter can be called a protein food, then the curd product is rather an option based on fat and carbohydrates.

Cottage cheese product can be quite useful only if it contains as few chemical components as possible.

Knowing that the lactic acid bacteria are contained in the curd product in small quantities or are absent altogether, we can say that the use of such a product is useless. Unlike natural curd, its use does not have a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora.

You should not expect the enrichment of the body with calcium, eating curd mass. Due to the fact that animal fat in it is not, it contains a small amount of protein.Moreover, the chemical additives in the composition make the use of the curd product in some cases dangerous to health. They can cause the development of pathogenic flora in the intestines. Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting. Most flavors and dyes tend to accumulate in the body, gradually inhibiting the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems.

If for most people this effect has a cumulative effect, then for people with weakened immunity, as well as the elderly, young children, people prone to allergies, even a single application can cause the development of allergies.

With caution should eat curds with a sweet taste. They are contraindicated in diabetes and obesity. The use of sweets in large quantities adversely affects the digestive organs, the condition of blood vessels and skin, and tooth enamel.

Definitely should not be consumed and, in so doing, give the child cottage cheese products containing palm oil. As a rule, manufacturers put a cheaper refined version into the product.

But even if you regularly use natural unrefined palm oil, it will settle on the intestines with a thin film. As a result, its ability to absorb nutrients is significantly reduced, and its peristalsis is deteriorating. But toxins, carcinogens to the oil surface literally stick.

Today, the dangers of palm oil are mentioned quite a lot, so in an attempt to protect themselves from bankruptcy, dishonest manufacturers hide its presence with a streamlined phrase “vegetable fats”.

All the differences between the curd mass and the curd are due to the difference in their composition. The latter, according to GOST, is made from natural fats of animal origin, whole milk and sourdough. The result is cottage cheese, the shelf life of which in the refrigerator is only 72 hours.

The ingredients themselves are quite expensive, and, given the small shelf life of the curd, its production requires considerable financial investments and is risky.

To correct the situation allows the replacement of natural fats with vegetable analogues, for example, cheaper coconut or palm fats. Instead of whole milk, they put dry milk. Chemical preservatives help to increase the shelf life of the product, and flavors and dyes help to increase the attractiveness of the curd product.

As a result, such a product can be stored for up to a month, which significantly reduces the financial risks of the manufacturer. By the way, even if the latter calls his products cottage cheese, but as part of it there are "outsiders" (those that should not be in the cottage cheese) components, this is curd mass.

Naturally, such significant differences in the composition and production technology entail a difference in the properties of these two products. One can hardly expect that the curd mass is as useful as curd.

These products behave differently during heat treatment. Attempting to make casserole or cheese cakes out of canned curd cheese is fraught with unforeseen results - the product is rolled up, stratified, remains raw.

The difference concerns the appearance of products. Cottage cheese is slightly moist, but easily separable from each other grains of white. The curd mass is usually creamy, more moist. It is rather difficult to separate the particles from one another, but if you try to roll a ball out of it, it can be done quite easily. But the cottage cheese in its pure form will crumble.

Natural cottage cheese has a slightly sour flavor characteristic of dairy products. At the same time it is completely unsharp. Since the content of specific bacteria in the curd products is small or completely absent, then there is no place for the characteristic odor.Sometimes manufacturers leave the product "as is", in which case it does not have a pronounced smell.

The difference between the products lies in the fact that natural cottage cheese can be included in the menu of people with underweight, with a lack of calcium in the body. In other words, it demonstrates therapeutic effect. Curd of synthetic origin at best can be used as a dessert, and then you should not do it regularly because of the large amount of "chemistry" and sweeteners in the composition.

As already mentioned, not every manufacturer is in a hurry to make public the fact that sometimes, instead of cottage cheese and at its price, an analogue based on vegetable fats is sold. A simple test will help to distinguish animal fats, which means real cottage cheese. It is enough to dip a small amount of the product in warm water and mix.

If after a while white grains settle to the bottom, and a fatty film forms on the surface (quite the same as when cooking broth), then you have cottage cheese or at least a product high in animal fats.

You will learn more about the cottage cheese product in the following video.