Dairy
String Cheese
String cheese is a mozzarella-style cow’s-milk pasta filata cheese formed into sticks or ropes that peel into fibrous strings. The paste is mild, milky, and springy, with low to moderate salt; low-moisture versions keep well as snacks, while fresher styles are softer and more dairy-sweet. It is primarily a hand-held snack food, especially in North America, and is also used in lunchboxes and as a mild melting stick. The stringing property comes from aligned protein fibres created by stretching the curd in hot water or brine.
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History
Pasta filata snack sticks evolved from Italian-American mozzarella and scamorza practice.
Individually wrapped string cheese became a mass-market American children’s snack.
National brands standardised low-moisture string cheese for refrigerated retail distribution.
Flavoured and reduced-fat string cheese variants expanded the snack category.
Specialty and organic string cheeses joined commodity sticks in supermarket dairy aisles.