Domestic Standards
October 24, 2005
FDA Issues Proposed Rule on Filtered Milk Use in Cheesemaking
On October 19, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published for comment its long-awaited proposed rule on allowing the use of liquid ultrafiltered (UF) milk in the making of all standardized cheeses. This move stems from the National Cheese Institute's (NCI) petition asking for this allowance that was filed more than five years ago.
"We commend FDA for launching this rulemaking process, since we strongly believe that cheesemakers should have the flexibility to use ultrafiltered milk in making their products," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior vice president and general counsel. "However, we are concerned about the labeling requirement in the agency's proposed rule. The industry has long had a consensus on the use of this ingredient, so we hope that the agency will move swiftly toward a revised final rule without the labeling requirement."
The NCI Regulatory Committee is now thoroughly reviewing FDA's proposal, since the agency's proposed rule is not identical to the NCI petition. In particular, the association is concerned about proposed language that requires manufacturers that use UF milk to declare this ingredient as "ultrafiltered milk" on the ingredients statement of the finished product, rather than simply listing "milk". Complying with this labeling requirement would be very problematic for NCI members, if implemented as proposed.
Specifically, the industry seeks to update the federal Standards of Identity for cheeses to allow for the use of milk that has been processed using ultrafiltration technology, where a membrane is used to remove water or water phase constituents from milk. The use of the resulting UF milk (or retentate) in standardized cheese enhances product consistency and production efficiencies. Milk filtration also allows for more efficient transportation of milk. Because milk filtration removes the same constituents that otherwise are separated out with the whey in cheesemaking, the finished cheese has the same physical, chemical and nutritional characteristics as cheese made from non-filtered milk. FDA's proposed rule and the final NCI petition refer only to the use of liquid UF milk, not dried UF milk; some producer groups had expressed concerns about the revised standards leading to increased use of imported dried UF milk.
FDA has already granted cheese companies the ability to use liquid UF milk in making three specific cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella and swiss.
The NCI committee will be working to provide comments to the agency on the labeling concern by the January 17, 2006, deadline. Member companies interested in being involved in this process should contact Clay Hough at chough@idfa.org, (202) 220-3516.
To review FDA's proposed rule, click here.
BACK