May 13/Food & Farm Week -- "The objective of this study was to fortify 50% reduced-fat Cheddar cheese with n-3 fatty acids and evaluate whether this fortification generated specific off-flavors in the cheese. Docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) fatty acids were added to the cheese to obtain three final fortification levels [18mg, 35mg and 71mg of DHA/EPA per serving size (28g) of cheese] representing 10%, 20% and 40% of the suggested daily intake level for DHA/EPA," scientists writing in the Journal of Dairy Science report.
"The presence of oxidized, rancid and fishy flavors as a function of fortification level and cheese aging (six months) was evaluated using a sensory descriptive panel. No differences were found in the oxidized and rancid flavors as a consequence of DHA/EPA fortification, with only slight intensities of these flavors. The presence of fishy off-flavor was dependent on the fortification level. Cheeses with low fortification levels (18mg and 35mg of DHA/EPA per serving size) did not develop significant fishy off-flavor compared with the control, whereas at the highest fortification level (71mg of DHA/EPA per serving size), the fishy off-flavor was significantly stronger in young cheeses. The fishy flavor decreased as a function of age and became nonsignificant compared with the control at three months of storage. Even though fishy flavors were detected in the fortified cheeses, the DHA/EPA content during storage remained constant and complied with the suggested values for food fortification," wrote S. Martini and colleagues, Utah State University.