Technical Abstract: Many consumers prefer to purchase cheese with less fat and similar flavor and texture as its full-fat counterpart. In a collaboration between ARS, USDA and Teagasc, Cheddar cheeses containing 16% fat (half the normal amount) were manufactured with adjunct cultures that produce exopolysaccharide (EPS) capsules around the bacterial cells. The presence of these capsules should disrupt the protein matrix, resulting in cheese which is softer and more meltable than typical low-fat Cheddar. Electron microscopy revealed that many of the fat globules coalesced in low-fat Cheddar cheese made with EPS during 36 wk of refrigerated storage, an indication that the matrix was disrupted by the capsules. Control cheeses made without EPS producers exhibited less coalescence as well as reduced survival of the starter bacteria. The use of EPS-producing cultures in the production of reduced-fat Cheddar leads to microstructural changes that will allow the cheese to exhibit more meltability and less hardness and cohesiveness than typical low-fat Cheddar.