String cheese

In the US, string cheese is not a specific type of cheese but rather describes the shape in which the cheese is sold. String cheese is roughly cylindrical, about 6 inches long and less than 1 inch in diameter. It is nearly always mozzarella but can be another semi-soft cheese instead. String cheese is eaten by pulling "strings" of cheese from the cylinder along its length and eating these strings. It is considered a snack food.

Because of the way it is pulled during processing, mozzarella forms strings. There are also Syrian and Armenian cheeses processed this way. Other cheeses are only cut and pressed, not pulled, and do not develop strings.