EXCLUSIVE: Aussie scientist claims he can convert potatoes into cheese

No, it’s not April Fools Day….

Australian food engineer Andrew Dyhin claims he can turn old potatoes into cheese.

Yep, you heard us right!

Andrew founded a company called Potato Magic, which is producing a substance called CHATO (a combined name for cheese and potato).

“I started off as a chemical engineer and I’ve worked extensively in the food industry. At the end of the day I’m fascinated by potatoes,” he exclusively tells Be.

“There was an observation made in a laboratory while we were doing some processes and when we revisited those changes some year later it became a significant project for us.

"CHATO is 100 per cent processed potato. A potato goes in and CHATO comes out."

Andrew explains it's the way the potato is processed that makes it become cheese and he is also hopeful of the possibility of CHATO becoming used in food drops in disaster zones and by the military.

"When we look at the world today, and we see how important food security is we need to get the maximum amount of food from a hectare of land,” he continues.

"Having a way of using potato in all its current forms and all the by-product from potato processing and stuff that's left in the paddock, the stuff that gets thrown in the dump.

“This can do that."

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What's more, CHATO is vegan friendly and can be added toasties, pizzas, ice creams and custards.

"It goes really well on pizza. CHATO is very versatile. You can cut it into it and have it in a potato salad, it looks like cheese smells, like cheese and feels like cheese. It's all lactose free," he continues.

"It does have less calories than cheese. It can be great if you're watching your weight. It's low GI."

Andrew says we will be seeing it in supermarkets in the next one to two years.

“I love the look on a person’s face when they try CHATO cheese for the first time," he adds. "The ones who don't believe me, I usually sit them down and show them. There's a lot of excitement around the world.

"It's going to be huge for Australia."

But Andrew says he can't use potatoes to make any other food rather than cheese at the moment, and because it’s still in the process of being patented, he says he can’t go into specifics of how CHATO is made just yet.

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