processed cheese

noun

variants or process cheese

: a smooth, uniform cheese that is made by blending and melting together one or more cheeses of different maturity or composition along with an emulsifying salt (such as disodium phosphate) and typically other ingredients (such as coloring, cream, water, or whey)

Processed cheeses are more uniform, melt faster and generally stay fresh longer.

—Marty Meitus

The attractions of process cheese for the consumer include the familiar appeal of any branded product—the assurance of sameness time after time.

—Consumer Reports

Examples of processed cheese in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Aged and processed cheeses such as feta, blue, Parmesan, American cheese, and halloumi contain more salt. —Merve Ceylan, Health, 24 July 2024

Coincidentally, your correspondent noticed last month that Egyptair no longer serves processed cheese with its in-flight meals. —The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019

Kraft first marketed Velveeta on its nutritional benefits, which is ironic given that, decades later, the U.S. government would inform Kraft that its product does not meet the definition of process cheese food. —Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2019

This movie neither celebrates nor interrogates the kind of guy who prefers processed cheese and American whiskey to Brie and Scotch. —Noel Murray, latimes.com, 5 July 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined above