Development of a method for determining cheese-to-cheese stickiness in commercial cheese slice samples

<h2>Abstract</h2> This study aimed to develop a practical tack testing method to measure the stickiness of commercial sliced cheese samples. When comparing instrumental variation, no significant differences were observed in tack force and tack energy measurement between the texture analyzer and the rheometer, confirming the suitability of the texture analyzer for routine measurement. A contact force of 10 N and contact time of 60 s were found suitable for measurement of cheese stickiness. The probe material surface types (aluminum vs. acrylic) did not show significant differences in terms of the tendency of the cheese to stick to the probe. A novel cheese-to-cheese setup for testing stickiness was developed which successfully differentiated between Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese for their distinctive sticky behavior. This method presents a standardized approach for determining stickiness, which could enhance quality control and formulation strategies within the cheese industry.