Scientists have developed a new vegan cheese that promises to be healthier, more environmentally friendly, and even “oozier” than existing alternatives.
Traditional vegan cheese substitutes often rely on solid fats such as coconut or palm oil to achieve their desired “sliceable, meltable” texture. However, this typically results in a high saturated fat content.
Researchers at Heriot-Watt University (HWU) have now pioneered a method using home-grown vegetable oils, including rapeseed and sunflower, as a sustainable alternative. This innovation aims to create a product that is both healthier for consumers and more sustainable for the planet.
Professor Stephen Euston, who is leading the team, said: “I think it’s fair to say that when most people try vegan cheese for the first time, they don’t wax lyrical.
“The main reason for that is probably to do with the lack of protein.
“Normal cheese is mostly protein, whereas vegan cheese has none.
“It’s mostly starch, with a few colourings and flavourings added, and sometimes a bit of salt.
“Its other main ingredient is fat: either coconut or palm oil.
“Solid fats help create the sliceable, meltable texture people expect from cheese.
“But it means that vegan cheese ends up with a high saturated fat content, often up to 25%, which means it isn’t the healthiest option.
“And consumers are becoming increasingly averse to palm and coconut oil due to the deforestation involved and its impact on wildlife like orangutans.”
The team achieved the feat using a process called oleogelation – which is where special molecules called oleogelators are added to a liquid oil and they assemble into microscopic structures that trap the oil inside a 3D structure.
The result is a gel that behaves like a solid fat.
Prof Euston said the “challenge” is making vegetable oils behave like solid fat, so that the vegan cheese has something resembling the texture of actual cheese.
“We’re very mindful of reducing food miles, so we’re focused on using crops that can be grown sustainably, at scale, in the UK,” he added.
As well as having a lower saturated fat content, the team found cheese made from vegetable oils was also more “meltable” than several off-the-shelf coconut oil-based alternatives.
Prof Euston went on: “Meltability is one of the biggest complaints about vegan cheese – it’s not very oozy – so improving that feature is an unintended bonus.
“We’ve proved that our recipe, which reduces the saturated fat content of the cheese to as low as 3%, works theoretically and in our lab.
“But we’ve yet to take it to the kitchen and onto a plate.
“We’re hoping to do that within the next 10 months, when it will be presented to a tasting panel.
“It won’t taste any better or worse than the current vegan cheese slices on the market, but it will be more heart healthy and greener.”
The HWU team has received funding from the UK Research and Innovation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to reach a new milestone: moving the cheese from the lab into the kitchen and putting its taste to the test with real people.
Prof Euston’s peer-reviewed work on vegan cheese has been published in the journal, Food Chemistry.
