Soy cheese

Soy cheese is a creamy soymilk-based product used in place of cheese or sour cream by consumers avoiding dairy for allergy, intolerance, or dietary reasons. Because soy proteins behave very differently from casein, which is what gives dairy cheese its melt and stretch, manufacturers use starches, vegetable oils, and flavourings to build texture and flavour, and the results vary widely in quality. It is typically lower in saturated fat than dairy cheese but must still declare soy as an allergen. The category keeps improving as formulators learn to mimic the functional magic of casein with plant ingredients.