The cutting of foods and its result, namely cutting quality, is determined through a complex interaction of simultaneously acting and interrelated cutting energy contributions, and strongly depends on the mechanical properties of the viscoelastic food itself. Pre-crack deformation and cut initiation play a key role in the initial phase of the cutting process. Silicone rubbers with different types and amounts of dispersed materials were used to model food systems with customized viscoelastic properties that were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis and cutting experiments. The cutting stiffness derived from the force measured during cutting was identified as a useful parameter to conclude on the material properties of the systems. The rate dependence measured in small deformation frequency sweeps was highly related to the viscoelastic profile of the model systems, and could be directly related to the cutting stiffness measured at different cutting velocity. The results contribute to a suitable selection of cutting modeling parameters, and are helpful to deepen the understanding of material behavior at high-speed cutting applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.