Water Activity and Chemical Composition of Cheese

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Abstract
In most cheeses with a moisture content above about 40%, a simple and reasonably accurate predictive equation for water activity can be derived from the sodium chloride molality (aW = 1-0.033 M). In cheese with a moisture content below about 40%, the molality of sodium chloride does not provide a basis for an accurate calculation of cheese water activity because of the additional effect of other solids lowering water activity.