Processed cheese
Queso fundido (procesado)
- Date
- 1911 · confidence high
- Place
- Thun, Bern, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler; James L. Kraft (1916)
- People
- 👤 Fritz Stettler1865–1937👤 Walter Gerber1879–1942
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Gerber and Stettler melted Emmental with sodium citrate, which prevents the fat from separating, producing a stable, long-lasting cheese of uniform texture. Kraft patented a similar process in 1916.
Gerber and Stettler created it to export Swiss cheese to warm countries without it spoiling; Kraft developed its own in Chicago separately.
What it led to
- packaged slices and portions of cheese
- long-life cheese for the US Army
- the global processed cheese industry (Kraft, La vache qui rit)