Detection of milk mixtures in Halloumi cheese

A capillary electrophoresis method has been applied to the detection of illegal addition of milk from goat and/or cow in Halloumi cheese, traditionally made with sheep milk. The electrophoretic profiles of the casein from Halloumi cheeses have revealed that caprine para-kappa-casein and bovine alpha(S1)-casein peaks point to the presence of low percentages of goat's and/or cow's milk added to Halloumi cheese. Stepwise multiple linear regression has been used to predict these percentages with a standard error of the estimation of 2.14%. The analytical method combined with the statistical application is valid for the prediction of percentages higher than 2% of goat's and percentages of 5% of cow's milk added to the cheese either in fresh or ripened cheese. The standard error of estimation was higher for the prediction of cow's milk than for goat's milk.