An agent of the present invention comprising poultry feet or a processed product thereof, preferably a hydrolysate of an extract of poultry feet, promotes hyaluronic acid production, thereby exhibiting excellent effects of preventing or treating a joint disorder, improving skin dryness, wrinkles or skin tension, moisturizing the skin, etc. The agent is thus useful as a medicament, a quasi-drug, a cosmetic product, a food product or an animal feed.

An agent of the present invention comprising poultry feet or a processed product thereof, preferably a hydrolysate of an extract of poultry feet, promotes hyaluronic acid production, thereby exhibiting excellent effects of preventing or treating a joint disorder, improving skin dryness, wrinkles or skin tension, moisturizing the skin, etc. The agent is thus useful as a medicament, a quasi-drug, a cosmetic product, a food product or an animal feed.

A method and system for producing panela cheese resulting as by-product whey without salt or with minimal amount of salt, the method includes processing milk to produce a mixture of cheese curds and whey, wherein optionally the mixture is salted by incorporating a fraction of a total amount of salt required for the manufacture of the panela cheese concerned; extruding, forming and pressing the cheese curds to form cheese blocks and/or simultaneously draining the whey from the cheese curds; optionally subjecting the obtained cheese blocks to a cooling process or a fast cooling process; and promoting absorption of salt by injecting brine to the cheese blocks, wherein the amount of salt absorbed by the cheese block from the brine represents the complement of the total amount of salt required for the manufacture of the panela cheese concerned. The system includes a vat, a cheeseformer apparatus, and a brine injector.

Embodiments may include a method of making a cheese shape. The method may include providing a cheese-shaping system. The cheese-shaping system may include at least a first chilled roller belt. The method may also include supplying a cheese mass in molten form to the first chilled roller belt. A cheese sheet may then be formed on the first chilled roller belt. The method may further include cooling the cheese sheet through contact with the first chilled roller belt. In addition, the method may include forming and removing the cheese shape from the cooled cheese sheet. Furthermore, the method may include applying a liquid application to the cheese shape.

The present invention relates to a polymer blend and to multilayer heat shrinkable films containing at least a layer made of said polymer blend, to flexible containers made of said film, such as bags, pouches and the like, useful for packaging articles, in particular food items. The invention also relates to a process for the manufacturing of such multilayer heat shrinkable films.

Methods and systems for preparing soft or firm/semi-hard cheese are provided, as well as soft or firm/semi-hard cheese prepared by the methods. The methods typically involve the formation of a slurry that contains blended or molten cheese curd. A variety of ingredients can be introduced into the curd used to prepare the slurry, the slurry that is formed, or at other stages along the manufacturing process to tailor the performance and nutritional characteristics of the final cheese product. The slurry in some methods is directly processed to form a final cheese product. In other methods, the slurry undergoes various types of processing to achieve certain desired composition or performance requirements.

A method and device for handling cheese blocks. Compressed cheese curd is released from the inner wall of a mould and after a turning operation is evacuated from the mould, with the mould rotated, lowered and shaken or blown. A lifting gripper is guided as far as the stop on a pick-up device, and in the mould the cheese block is subjected to a shaking movement. The mould, that is to say, the cassette, is then raised, rotated and guided back into the cassette press, so that the cheese block can be fixed in position on the lifting gripper by a clamping means. The pick-up plunger with the cheese block is then lowered, that is to say, retracted, the lifting gripper is traversed towards a secondary mould for the cheese block, preferably downwards, the clamping means open, and the cheese block is positioned in a secondary mould.

A method and device for handling cheese blocks. Compressed cheese curd is released from the inner wall of a mould and after a turning operation is evacuated from the mould, with the mould rotated, lowered and shaken or blown. A lifting gripper is guided as far as the stop on a pick-up device, and in the mould the cheese block is subjected to a shaking movement. The mould, that is to say, the cassette, is then raised, rotated and guided back into the cassette press, so that the cheese block can be fixed in position on the lifting gripper by a clamping means. The pick-up plunger with the cheese block is then lowered, that is to say, retracted, the lifting gripper is traversed towards a secondary mould for the cheese block, preferably downwards, the clamping means open, and the cheese block is positioned in a secondary mould.

Processes and equipment for continuously making a substitute or imitation cheese by feeding a heated first liquid stream including emulsifying salt, water and cheese powder into a cooker which is a twin screw mixer, feeding a heated second liquid stream including oil and casein or a non-dairy protein into the cooker, processing the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream through the cooker to form a cheese composition, and cooling the cheese composition. The cheese composition may be continuously extruded in a desired shape such as sheets or ropes and/or may be continuously cooled and cut into pieces having a reduced size such as a size to approximate shredded cheese.

A gluten free and carbohydrate free food product comprised of a mixture of a ground meat and a ground cheese wherein the mixture is formed into a thin sheet like configuration and cooked and then cut into a desired geometrical configuration to provide a crust or layer or shell for a final or finished food product.