Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Cheesemakers reheat the whey and add acid so the remaining proteins curdle. The figure is taken from USDA FoodData Central, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a food fact?

Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Ricotta is made from leftover whey

Cheesemakers reheat the whey and add acid so the remaining proteins curdle When rennet separates milk into curds and whey, most of the casein leaves with the curds but the whey still holds albumin and globulin. Heating the whey to about 85 degrees Celsius and adding an acid makes those proteins coagulate into fine flakes that float. The name means recooked, and the result is a soft grainy cheese made from what would otherwise be waste. It sits in Mondo's food collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

USDA FoodData Central

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Food & Cooking trivia

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Camembert's white rind is a living mouldPenicillium camemberti grows on the surface and softens the cheese beneath Annatto gives cheddar its orange colourThe seed coat of a tropical shrub supplies a yellow red dye called bixin Rennet enzymes curdle milk proteins into firm cheeseChymosin cleaves kappa-casein to allow milk solids to aggregate into solid curds Blue cheese veins need air to turn blueThe mould grows green-blue only where oxygen reaches it Mozzarella is stretched, not pressedHot whey makes the curd plastic enough to pull into strands The crunch in aged Parmesan is crystallised amino acidsLong ageing frees tyrosine and calcium lactate into tiny crystals

Tags: ricotta, whey, cheese

Ricotta is made from leftover whey: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Cheesemakers reheat the whey and add acid so the remaining proteins curdle. The figure is taken from USDA FoodData Central, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a food fact?: Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.