Coagulant to cut carbon footprint

Chr Hansen says switching to its coagulant Chy-Max M means cheese producers can significantly cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The reduced carbon footprint is a production benefit that comes from the fact that using Chy-Max M means increased cheese yield. Cheese makers will simply use less milk to produce the same amount of cheese if they use the product, according to Chr Hansen. Exactly how big a yield increase and carbon dioxide reduction depends on the type of cheese in question.

Going from Chy-Max or another first generation fermentation-produced chymosin to Chy-Max M will give a 2254 kg of carbon dioxide a ton of cheese reduction of the carbon footprint due to the yield increase. The shift from a microbial coagulant will save 39146 kg of carbon dioxide a ton of cheese, while moving from animal rennet to Chy-Max M will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3870kg/t of cheese.

A mozzarella cheese maker of 20,000t of cheese a year could save 1,200 to 1,500t of carbon dioxide each year, depending on the type of coagulant, says Chr Hansen.

Contact: Chr Hansen