OFF THE SHELF
Sour cream, cream cheese come in lighter versions

Sour cream and cream cheese come in variations of fat content. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Sour cream: Sour cream is produced by culturing cream or milk with lactic-acid bacteria. Rennet, nonfat milk solids (whey), various gums or gelatin may be added to provide body, particularly in low-fat versions. True sour cream must by definition contain at least 18 percent milk fat by weight.

Reduced fat ("low-fat") sour cream, made with half-and-half, may contain 13.5 percent or less total milk fat by weight, a minimum reduction of 25 percent from full-fat sour cream. "Light" or "lite" sour cream, made with half-and-half, may contain 9 percent or less total milk fat by weight, a minimum reduction of 50 percent from full-fat sour cream. Fat-free sour cream, made from cultured skim milk with added thickeners and stabilizers, may contain 1 percent or less total milk fat by weight.

You can substitute low-fat, light or nonfat sour cream for full-fat sour cream in fresh uses without any effect. In cooking, however, lower-fat sour cream product may separate or break down, altering texture, color, taste; experiment, check the product Web site or stick with recipes where the sour cream is stirred in at the end. Other substitute options: nonfat yogurt, blenderized cottage cheese. Our favorite commercial product here: Knudsen Free or Light.

Cream cheese/neufchâtel: Regular cream cheese contains 10 grams of fat per two-tablespoon serving; American neufch‰tel has six grams; fat-free cream cheese has none. (True neufch‰tel is a French ripened cheese; here, we're speaking of the American cream cheese substitute, which is made with reduced-fat milk.) You can substitute these in cooking generally without ill effect. You're unlikely to note a taste difference unless you're eating the cheese plain; the higher the fat, the greater the pleasing, tangy notes.

Next week: Reduced-fat hard cheeses.