From anti- + huff. Huffing was cheesemakers' jargon for an unwanted expansion or swelling that rendered cheese unsaleable.
antihuff (uncountable)
- (US, obsolete) A substance of uncertain composition once used to adulterate cheese to prevent it from swelling. [from 1881]
1881, T. D. Curtis, “Skim Milk Cheese and "Anti-Huff"”, in Sixteenth Annual Report of the American Dairymen's Association, page 7:[in title]